Trio of Accidents Snarls Traffic on 101

One lane of the northbound Ventura Freeway was closed for about an hour Friday as officers from the California Highway Patrol tried to sort out a series of accidents that began around 2:45 p.m.

In all, nine vehicles were involved in three accidents that occurred within 100 yards of each other near the East Main Street onramp.

It all began with a five-car collision, which triggered two subsequent wrecks.

The driver believed responsible for the initial accident fled the scene, but was later tracked down at her residence by the CHP, authorities said.

CHP Officer Curt Rhyne said Janet Carnaghe, 39, of Ventura was driving north in the middle lane when she tried to move to the fast lane.

The maneuver forced a car driven by Lisa Hackenberger, 18, of Canoga Park into the dirt center divider, he said.

Hackenberger’s car spun out and traveled across all three northbound lanes, hitting three cars--a pickup driven by Terrence Martens, 43, of Ventura, a pickup driven by Glenn Plesser, 31, of Ventura, and a minivan driven by James McCarthy, 54, of Las Vegas.

Rhyne said Carnaghe failed to stop at the scene.

She was contacted by CHP officers about 4 p.m. at her house, he said.

No citations had been issued by Friday night.

The collision closed the slow lane for nearly an hour as tow truck crews tried to clear the roadway of the damaged vehicles.

Traffic was backed up to about Victoria Avenue.

Drivers on the westbound Santa Paula Freeway also started hitting the breaks around Victoria Avenue.

No one was seriously injured, but authorities said three people, whom they did not identify, were taken to Community Memorial Hospital.

The investigation is continuing.

Afternoon traffic slowed to a crawl through the crash scene, resulting in two non-injury collisions.