Van Driver Involved in Fatal Crash Tells His Side of Story
A van driver involved in an accident that killed two women on the Golden State Freeway--tentatively blamed on “road rage”--walked into the California Highway Patrol station in Newhall on Thursday to tell his version of events.
Pierre Gaucher, 47, of Northridge told police that a Mercury Cougar bumped his minivan from behind as he was traveling down the Roxford Street off-ramp in Sylmar, CHP officers said.
After the encounter, the car sped back up the ramp onto the freeway, traveling in the wrong direction, and crashed head-on into a truck. The two women in the car were killed.
Police said it may have been a case of “road rage” because witnesses said that the two women, who allegedly were making obscene gestures and honking at the van driver before tailgating him down the exit ramp, appeared to turn sharply to deliberately spatter his van with mud thrown up by their car’s tires.
The dead women were identified as Delfina Gonzalez Morales, 42, and her daughter Maria Laura Morales Gonzalez, 26.
CHP spokesman Doug Sweeney said investigators had yet to determine why the women were taunting Gaucher or why Morales drove back up the exit ramp into oncoming traffic.
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