Accidents on 101 Freeway Leave 2 Dead

A Ventura man walking home and a missionary from New York who lost control of her car were killed in separate traffic incidents on the Ventura Freeway on Thursday morning.

Salvatore Adragna, 52, was hit when he walked across the freeway in Thousand Oaks about 4 a.m. The second accident occurred farther east at 8:40 a.m. and forced the closure of two of the freeway’s northbound lanes just north of the California 23 interchange in Thousand Oaks. It brought traffic to a crawl in both directions into the late morning.

A third freeway incident, in which there were no serious injuries, forced closure of a northbound lane near the Johnson Drive exit in Ventura about 7:50 a.m. after a car struck a California Highway Patrol vehicle, and slowed down commuters through the early morning.

Kathryn Christensen of Clifton Park, N.Y., was traveling to work at Covenant Players in Oxnard when, witnesses said, her Ford LTD swerved left, abruptly crossed three lanes of traffic, was broadsided by a Chevrolet pickup truck and rolled onto its top. The 43-year-old died instantly, said Mitch Breese, a deputy county coroner.

Her husband, Brian Christensen, remained in serious but stable condition Thursday evening at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, with trauma to his upper chest.

“It looks like the victim is primarily at fault in the incident,” said Officer Dave Cockrill, a spokesman for the CHP. “We can’t rule out a [vehicle] defect. We have no idea why she swerved.”

Robert Herrera, 19, the driver of the Chevy pickup, and his 21-year-old sister Tania Herrera were treated and released at Los Robles. Michael Berman, who drove a Jeep Cherokee that rear-ended the pickup, was also treated and released.

Authorities say Adragna, the man killed earlier, apparently was walking along the Ventura Freeway to get to his Ventura residence. He had been removed from the freeway twice, once by the Sheriff’s Department at Lynn Road and later by a CHP officer near Ventu Park Road. He apparently returned to the freeway and was struck by a semitruck near the Ventu Park Road exit as he crossed the median.

Authorities said Adragna had not been drinking, and they were not sure why he had chosen to travel along the freeway or where he was coming from. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The coroner has ruled his death an accident.

In the third accident, Monica Lopez, 33, of Oxnard was driving in the fast lane of the Ventura Freeway about 55 to 60 mph near Johnson Drive, when traffic slowed and she braked. Her 1986 BMW lurched to the right, she said, making her lose control of the vehicle, veer left and smash into the center divider and then into CHP Officer Jose Patino’s car. The crash destroyed the BMW and left minor damage to the patrol vehicle, Cockrill said.

Lopez was taken to the Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura, treated and released. Authorities ruled her case an accident and she was not cited.

Thursday’s accidents were the latest in an apparent onslaught of major traffic accidents in the county. Last weekend, an Oxnard mother and her 7-year-old daughter were killed on Victoria Road in Ventura; and four Simi Valley teenagers were taken to the hospital Monday, some in critical condition, after a predawn crash on the Ventura Freeway.

The recent rash of tragic accidents is merely coincidental, Cockrill said. “We really can’t blame this on any one thing,” he said. “The fatalities are spread out all over the county.”

At the headquarters of Covenant Players, colleagues were mourning the loss of a friend. The Christensens came to Oxnard in June as members of the international Christian drama troupe based there. They had been traveling in Europe with one of the troupe’s units for about 15 years, and arrived in Ventura County this summer preparing to head to South Africa, according to Mark Johnson-Tanner, the group’s vice president.

Johnson-Tanner described Kathryn Christensen as a lover of classical music and a perceptive actor and director, who felt herself called to religion.

“She was a very caring person,” he said. “Anyone who thought about Kathy would have to use the word ‘empathetic.’ ”

In the meantime, he said the troupe’s thoughts were with Brian Christensen and with their family.

Brian Christensen had surgery Thursday afternoon and was listed in stable but guarded condition Thursday night.

“Kathy’s with the Lord. We’re not worried about her,” Johnson-Tanner said.

But he said many troupe members were devastated by the loss, and the mood was sober in the office Thursday.

“We’ll continue on as the Lord requires,” he said. “But there will be an awful lot of prayers around the world today.”