12 Hurt in 2 Crashes; 3 Hospitalized

Two separate traffic collisions Sunday on California 126 near Piru injured 12 people, three of whom remained hospitalized Sunday night.

The two accidents, along a notoriously dangerous stretch of road, took place seven hours and about 3 miles apart.

At 7:45 a.m., Gerardo Cervantes, 23, of Fillmore was driving east in a pickup when he pulled onto the shoulder to pick up two female passengers, according to the California Highway Patrol. A tractor-trailer truck driven by Andres Galvan, 41, of Dinuba was approaching in the eastbound lane.

Cervantes pulled back onto the roadway, possibly attempting to make a U-turn, officials said. The larger truck tried to stop but swerved and hit the pickup. The collision happened about three miles west of the Los Angeles County line.

Cervantes suffered moderate injuries and was airlifted from the scene by a Ventura County Sheriff’s Department helicopter. He was transported to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia, where he was treated and discharged.

Galvan and the two passengers--Esperanza Mariscal, 49, of Fillmore, and Teresa Hubbel, 52, of Santa Paula--suffered minor injuries and were taken by ambulance to Santa Paula Memorial Hospital, where they were treated and released.

The accident stopped traffic in both directions for more than two hours.

Then, at 2:45 p.m., a station wagon and a pickup truck collided near the intersection of California 126 and Center Street in Piru.

When rescuers arrived, the truck was upside down in an orange grove, about 30 feet down an embankment from the road, investigators said. The driver had been thrown clear of the truck.

The station wagon had stopped just off the highway’s westbound lanes.

CHP officials had not determined the accident’s cause by Sunday evening.

Three people who had been in the truck were flown by helicopter to Simi Valley Hospital. Glen Fox, 48; Diana Fox, 49, and Karin Fox, all of Moorpark, were listed in fair condition Sunday evening.

Five people, including three children, had been riding in the station wagon. They were taken by ambulance to Santa Paula Memorial Hospital, where they were treated and released. Their identities were not available late in the day.