Boy Thrown From Truck on Freeway Dies

A boy was killed and his sister was injured Saturday when they were thrown from a pickup truck that went out of control on the Ventura Freeway, the California Highway Patrol said.

Officers said the children were tossed onto the freeway when the driver of the truck lost control as another car swerved in front of him.

CHP Officer Kerri Hawkins said the car that precipitated the accident was pursued by a witness to a gas station, where CHP officers met with the driver. The driver of that car was not arrested, but officials said that the district attorney’s office will be asked to file manslaughter and felony hit-and-run charges against the driver.

CHP Officer Jim Beaver said the crash of the truck driven by Oscar Hernandez, 33, of Los Angeles occurred shortly before 2 p.m.

Byron Hernandez, 5, and his sister Kathy, 10, were hurled from the truck, Beaver said. As both westbound and eastbound traffic was halted, the girl was airlifted by helicopter to Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles, where she was in fair condition. The boy was taken to the Kaiser-Permanente hospital in Woodland Hills, where he died.

Beaver said the accident occurred as a car moving at high speed weaved in and out of traffic on the eastbound Ventura Freeway just west of DeSoto Avenue. The car darted past Hernandez’s pickup, which swerved to avoid it. The truck then collided with another car before hitting the center divider and landing on the westbound side of the freeway.

The driver of the car hit by the truck, Richard Kading, 28, of Burbank, suffered minor injuries, Beaver said.