San Fernando Valley : FATAL CRASH
A motorist’s attempt to defog his car’s windows is what apparently left two of three UPS workers dead as they drove home late Wednesday night in North Hills, police said.
LAPD Officer Paul Skinner said Peter Michael Papadakis, 23, and two friends had just hopped into his car at 10:10 p.m. on Densmore Avenue, near Stagg Street, when the car began to drift to the curb.
Papadakis apparently could not see out the windshield. While trying to turn on his defroster, he veered right and slammed into a parked flatbed truck. The car was traveling about 35 m.p.h., but the impact sheared the top off of Papadakis’ car.
“He just couldn’t see past the fog on the front window,” Skinner said.
Killed were Jerry Brown, 30, of North Hills, who was sitting in the rear passenger seat, and Pierre Masquesmay, 22, also of North Hills, who sat next to Papadakis.
Papadakis was in stable condition at Holy Cross Medical Center recovering from head wounds.
All three men worked as sorters at the United Parcel Service facility in Van Nuys, Skinner said.
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