PIRU : 1 Dead in 5-Vehicle ‘Blood Alley’ Crash

A 47-year-old Valencia woman was killed Wednesday in a five-vehicle accident on a stretch of California 126 known as “Blood Alley.”

Four people suffered minor injuries in the 10:30 a.m. collision that occurred three miles east of downtown Piru. They were all treated and released from area hospitals.

The California Highway Patrol reported the following:

Jose del Carmen Costellanos Gordillo, 23, of Newhall, was driving his Oldsmobile Cutlass eastbound on the highway when, for undetermined reasons, he drifted to the right and hit a raised asphalt berm. Gordillo then over-corrected and crossed the double yellow line, sideswiping a second Cutlass in the westbound lane.

The second car, driven by Patricia Ortiz Rodriguez, 22, of Oxnard, spun out of control, coming to rest facing east in the westbound lane.

Jan R. Jornberg, the 47-year-old victim, saw the collision in front of her and took evasive action by swerving her Chrysler New Yorker onto the shoulder of the westbound lane and up the adjacent hillside.

Tractor-trailer driver Keith Busby, 42, of Santa Barbara--who was traveling behind the Valencia woman--slammed on the brakes, which locked up, causing his truck to jackknife onto the westbound shoulder, pinning Jornberg’s car against the hillside.

A Toyota Celica driven by John Godley, 42, of Newhall was unable to stop and rear-ended the tractor-trailer.

Alcohol was not a factor in the accident, the CHP reported.

Only one lane of the highway was open to traffic until the westbound lane was reopened at about 7:50 p.m.