Driver Faces Charge in Fatal Accident

A Simi Valley woman critically injured in a fiery crash that killed a fuel truck driver was charged with a misdemeanor Tuesday in connection with the Dec. 13 accident.

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office charged Lynn Roseberry, 33, with one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Roseberry was injured in the accident on the westbound Simi Freeway near Chatsworth that claimed the life of Mobil Oil Co. trucker Amilcar Alvarenga, 51, of Whittier, when his tanker exploded in flames.

Prosecutors allege that Roseberry triggered the accident when she lost control of her van near the top of the DeSoto Avenue onramp and entered the freeway at a 60-degree angle, said Ted Goldstein, a city attorney’s spokesman.

The truck driver, who was bringing a load of gasoline to a Mobil station in Simi Valley, tried to avoid hitting the wayward van, but the two vehicles collided, Goldstein said.

The tanker then spun across the freeway and was broadsided by another truck. An explosion followed, engulfing the tanker in flames. The second truck driver escaped without injury.

Goldstein said the district attorney’s office decided not to bring a felony charge in the case.

He would not say specifically what convinced the city attorney’s office, which prosecutes misdemeanors, that Roseberry was to blame for the accident. Prosecutors made the decision after looking at several factors, including a CHP accident report, he said. Roseberry is scheduled to be arraigned April 10 in San Fernando Municipal Court.