Traffic Accidents Kill 11 in County, 3 in Valley Area

Two women were killed in a head-on collision in Santa Clarita and another woman died after a truck she was riding in crashed into a parked car in North Hollywood Sunday, authorities said. The driver of the truck was booked for murder.

Kymberly Johnson, 30, of Altadena, was killed after her car was struck by a Pontiac Firebird on the Antelope Valley Freeway just south of Placerita Canyon Road at about 11 a.m. The Firebird was headed south when its driver apparently lost control and crossed the dirt center divider, ramming Johnson’s Toyota Tercel in a northbound lane, said CHP spokesman Garry Goldenberg.

The two cars were then struck by a third car, in which two men were slightly injured.

Johnson and the driver of the Firebird, whose identity was not released, died at the scene. Both women were wearing seat belts but were ejected from their vehicles, Goldenberg said.

The men, Reggey Clobes, 23, and Jeffrey Covert, 25, both of Ventura, were taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital.

Goldenberg said investigators were not immediately able to determine why the Firebird veered out of control.

In an earlier fatal incident in North Hollywood, Jose Torres, 24, of Pacoima was booked for murder Sunday morning after the truck he was driving south on Whitsett Avenue near Stagg Street hit a parked car and a 24-year-old woman riding with him died.

Los Angeles Police Sgt. Glenn Wiggins said Torres was apparently driving under the influence of alcohol in the 2:15 a.m. incident. Wiggins said intoxicated drivers involved in fatal crashes in the San Fernando Valley are frequently arrested for murder, although the district attorney’s office may later file lesser charges.

“He has a prior offense that has to do with alcohol, so he was arrested for murder,” Wiggins said.

Torres was in satisfactory condition at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center Sunday night after suffering chest trauma and cuts to both arms, according to Wiggins.

Meanwhile, the CHP reported that between 6 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Sunday, eight other people in Los Angeles County died in traffic as the long Memorial Day weekend took its toll on the region’s freeways and roads. There were no traffic-related deaths during the same period last year, the CHP said.

“That was not normal,” Goldenberg said of last year. “We’d like to think it was good enforcement, but you get so many factors.”

He said newly raised speed limits and the wet weekend weather in some areas may have pushed up the number of fatalities this year.

Statewide, 33 people were killed during the first 36 hours of the weekend in motor vehicle accidents, compared with 22 last year, according to the CHP.

The CHP also reported 294 drunk-driving arrests in Los Angeles County, compared with 262 last year. Statewide, there were 1,036 DUI arrests compared to 992 the prior year.