Head-On Crash Near Piru Kills 2, Closes Road

A head-on collision along a remote stretch of California 126 near the Los Angeles County line left two men dead Monday afternoon.

The accident, in the vicinity of an ongoing road-widening project east of Piru, occurred about 1:30 p.m. and shut the highway between Fillmore and Castaic Junction for four hours.

The driver of one car was killed by the impact of the crash, while a passenger in the second vehicle suffered a heart attack and died minutes later.

The collision occurred near the Camulos Ranch when a westbound black 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT, driven by a man in his mid- to late-50s, swerved right and glanced off the road’s raised shoulder at an unknown speed.

The Pontiac then veered left and crossed the double-yellow line, plowing into a green 1993 Ford Explorer driven eastbound by Susan Bertelsen, 32, of Santa Barbara.

The Pontiac’s driver, whose name is being withheld pending notification of family members, was killed instantly. Firefighters had to cut apart the man’s mid-engine fiberglass and steel sports coupe to remove him from the mangled wreckage.

California Highway Patrol officers found an open pint bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey in the Pontiac and a loaded .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol in a holster under the driver’s seat. Officials declined to say whether they thought the Pontiac driver was intoxicated at the time of the accident.

The collision caused Bertelsen’s father, Phillip Bertelsen, who was riding in the Explorer’s back seat, to suffer a heart attack. A passing motorist attempted to revive the 58-year-old using CPR, but was unsuccessful.

Bertelsen and her front-seat passenger--her mother, Judith Bertelsen--were airlifted to Simi Valley Hospital. Susan was treated and released; her mother suffered a fractured right ankle and was transferred to Kaiser Permanente hospital in Woodland Hills.

Authorities said the Bertelsens were on their way from Santa Barbara to the parents’ San Joaquin Valley home, near Fresno, for Christmas. At the scene, wrapped gifts, pieces of luggage and holiday cookbooks were strewn throughout their vehicle and onto the road.

Officers investigating the incident said they had few other clues to explain why the Pontiac’s driver drifted toward the shoulder and back into oncoming traffic.

“All in all, there’s not a lot of evidence--just four skids and two vehicles at rest,” said CHP spokesman Dave Cockrill.

A low concrete wall several miles long that separates eastbound California 126 from the new lanes under construction may have contributed to the accident, Cockrill said. The wall prevented Susan Bertelsen from pulling off the road to avoid the oncoming Pontiac.

Motorists attempting to drive east on California 126 after the collision were forced to make a detour at Grimes Canyon Road, connecting the Santa Clara Valley with California 118 near Moorpark.

Those who ignored the detour faced long waits at several checkpoints before being turned away. Westbound traffic was also rerouted.