Man Killed, Son Hurt in Accident

A Ventura man who authorities say was driving under the influence was killed and his son injured after flipping his truck on the Ventura Freeway.

Shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday, Donald Gordon, 50, entered the freeway at California Street driving southbound. He immediately swerved across three lanes of traffic, rolled his GMC pickup truck several times and came to rest upside-down near the center divider, California Highway Patrol Officer Dave Webb said.

A concrete divider stopped the car from careening into northbound traffic.

Neither the driver nor his son, Jessie Gordon, 29, also of Ventura, were wearing seat belts, Webb said. Jessie Gordon pulled his unconscious father from beneath the truck’s wreckage after he saw gasoline around the area, said Ventura County Medical Examiner Armando Chavez.

“We know there was alcohol [used], because the son told us there was,” Chavez said.

The back of Gordon’s truck was filled with tools, which were splashed across the freeway for several hours, Webb said.

The younger Gordon suffered a broken arm and cuts and bruises, Chavez said.

Donald Gordon never regained consciousness after being taken with his son to Ventura County Medical Center, Webb said.

He died from blunt-force pelvic injuries about 3 a.m., Chavez said.

“The speed of the spin kept them from being ejected from the vehicle,” Webb said.

“But they were thrown around in there like rag dolls, bouncing off each other.”