Driver Suffers Heart Attack, Later Dies
A 58-year-old Ventura man delivering newspapers to a Camarillo gas station early Wednesday died of a heart attack at the wheel of his Jeep, which then plowed into a gas pump and sparked a fire, authorities said.
Charles N. Kahlsdorf Jr. died at St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital, said Mitch Breese, an investigator with the
Ventura County medical examiner’s office. Kahlsdorf was a diabetic with a history of hypertension and did not succumb to injuries sustained in the wreck, he said.
Doctors at the hospital worked for nearly 20 minutes to revive Kahlsdorf, a father of seven, Breese said.
Deputies had pulled Kahlsdorf from his burning vehicle after the 4:36 a.m. crash, authorities said.
Kahlsdorf had been traveling an estimated 20 to 25 mph when he was stricken as he pulled into the Mobil service station on Pleasant Valley Road near the Ventura Freeway offramp, Breese said.
Engines from two fire stations responded to extinguish the blaze.
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