Man Killed in One Car Crash, Woman Seriously Hurt in Other

Accidents on two rural Ventura County roads Saturday killed a 61-year-old Camarillo man, left an elderly woman with serious injuries, and closed both roads for hours.

Joseph G. Lazzaro was driving north on Grimes Canyon Road in a white minivan when he veered over the center divider about a mile from Los Angeles Avenue in Moorpark.

The minivan, which was apparently traveling too fast for the winding road, collided head-on with a two-axle tractor-trailer, authorities said.

Lazzaro was pronounced dead on the scene shortly before 2 p.m. The truck driver suffered minor injuries.

The California Highway Patrol closed off both ends of the snaky road, which connects Fillmore and Moorpark, for more than seven hours.

In the second accident, two people were traveling on California 150 east of Sulphur Mountain Road near Santa Paula about 2:40 p.m. when their car veered off the road and rolled into a ditch, authorities said.

An elderly woman, whose name was not released, was trapped inside the wreckage and suffered serious injuries, authorities said. Emergency crews extricated her and transported her by helicopter to Ventura County Medical Center. Another passenger sustained minor injuries and was taken by ambulance to the same hospital, authorities said.

Hospital representatives would not provide any information on their conditions Saturday night.

The Highway Patrol closed California 150 from 2:55 p.m. to 5:34 p.m.