Collision Injures 6, Closes Offramp

Six people were injured, including a 7-year-old girl, when two vehicles collided Tuesday afternoon on a freeway offramp at Olsen Road, police said.

Four of the injured were taken by ambulances to Simi Valley Hospital and Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputy Rick Godfrey said. The injuries ranged from minor cuts to a concussion, Godfrey said.

Godfrey said all occupants in the cars were wearing seat belts.

“If they hadn’t been, we’d be looking at some fatalities,” Godfrey said.

The crash occurred at 2:15 p.m. when Agoura resident Jodi Caplin, 39, failed to yield the right-of-way as she turned west on Olsen Road from the northbound offramp of California 23.

Caplin’s 1997 Ford Explorer was broadsided by a 1984 Oldsmobile driven by Simi Valley resident Cristina Samano, 45. Samano and her three passengers, Simi Valley cousins Maria and Marina Vela, 46 and 47, and Esperanza Ramires, 32, also of Simi Valley, were taken to hospitals.

Ramires suffered the most serious injuries with a concussion and multiple cuts and abrasions, Godfrey said. Caplin and her daughter, Brianna, complained of minor aches. Neither was taken to a hospital, Godfrey said.

The crash forced the closure of the northbound Olsen Road offramp for more than an hour, Godfrey said. Both vehicles were heavily damaged. No citations were issued.