Month

Caltrans crews try to clear a mudslide on eastbound Interstate 91. (Photo: Riverside Press-Enterprise)

Heavy rains continued to wreak havoc on Southern California roads Wednesday; sudden floods dumped a mudslide across Highway 91 in Corona and a police officer was seriously injured on a rain-slicked street in Hemet.

• An on-duty police officer on his way to the station was broadsided by a van that ran a two-way stop sign. The driver said she didn’t see the stop sign and did not brake before hitting the unmarked patrol car.

•  The officer was pinned in his car but was able to radio the dispatch center for help. Firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to cut him out of the car. He was rushed to the hospital.

•  No one else was injured. The woman driving the van was arrested for driving with a suspended license.

The chaos spread all over Riverside County. California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) crews were stretched to the limit, shoveling mud and packing sandbags on residential streets in Highland and clearing a massive mudslide on Highway 91 in Corona. Here are a few photos of the disaster:

Clockwise from top left: A sink hole on Seventh Street near Ivy Drive in San Jacinto; police officers at the site of a major injury accident involving a Hemet police officer in an unmarked car; Caltrans crews place sandbags in Highland; emergency workers prepare the injured police officer for transport.

Over in Hemet, on-duty police Sgt. Eric Dickson was hospitalized after his unmarked patrol car was broadsided by a driver who ran a stop sign on a wet road. Dickson was driving north on Buena Vista Street at 9:08 a.m. when the car accident occurred, according to a report in the Valley Chronicle. He was traveling about 35 mph on his way to the police station down the street.

A van driven by 21-year-old Hemet resident Raquel Del Campo was traveling east on Central Avenue at the same time. The van, which was carrying four children, was also traveling about 35 mph.  Del Campo did not stop at the sign at the intersection of the two streets and crashed her van into Dickson’s car.

The impact crushed the side of the unmarked patrol car. Dickson was pinned inside but was able to radio the dispatch center, which allowed police and emergency workers to get to the scene quickly.

Firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to cut the officer out of the car. He was rushed to the hospital to be treated for his injuries, the nature and extent of which were not released. Neither Del Campo nor any of her passengers was injured.

Del Campo said she did not see the stop sign, so she didn’t brake or swerve before hitting Dickson’s car. She was arrested at the scene for driving on a suspended license, but was released on her own recognizance. Officials did not say why her license had been suspended.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have been representing car accidentinjury victims for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A head-on crash left a beer truck hanging over a guard rail and crushed cases of beer and wine. (Photo: Santa Cruz Sentinel)

A startled driver survived a head-on crash that left his delivery truck teetering over the edge of a guard rail, but his payload — dozens of cases of beer and wine — spilled on Mount Hermon Road in Santa Cruz on Thursday.

•  A pickup truck slid on an icy bridge and crashed head-on into a beer delivery truck.

•  The truck slid over to the edge of the bridge and the cab as left teetering atop the guard rail, 100 feet over a rushing creek.

•  Dozens of cases of beer and wine spilled onto the roadway, while 80 gallons of diesel fuel spilled into the creek below.

Scrimshaw beer. Boont Amber beer.  J Lohr wine. Highway crews spent six hours cleaning up crushed cases, pouring out half-spilled bottles, and throwing it all away.

The truck accident occurred at 6:15 a.m., according to a report in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, and the road was closed from Conference Drive to Graham Hill Road until shortly after noon.

It started when a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck slid out of control on the icy bridge, California Highway Patrol officer Sarah Jackson said. The Tacoma apparently veered into the oncoming lane, where it crashed head-on into the beer truck.

The impact forced the beer truck into a slide and almost over the side of the bridge, which sits 100 feet above Zayante Creek. The cab of the truck hit the guard rail, knocked off the steel railing atop it, and came to rest on the concrete siding, perched precariously over the water below.

Truck driver Carlos Abrego’s life literally hung in the balance.

“The whole cab was hanging over,” Abrego said. “I prayed to God because I didn’t want to die.”

Abrego managed to climb out to safety. Neither he nor the woman driving the Tacoma suffered serious injuries, but the woman did suffer minor injuries and was taken from the scene in an ambulance, Jackson said.

Meanwhile, as all that beer and wine were spilling onto the roadway, 80 gallons of diesel fuel spilled from the truck into Zayante Creek below. Authorities from California’s Department of Fish and Game, the Coast Guard, and Santa Cruz County Health Department were alerted and were expected to investigate.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have been representing truck accident victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

The chalk marks show where a pedestrian was struck and killed by a Desert Hot Springs police car Monday night. (Photo: KPSP News)

A 57-year-old pedestrian who had just moved from Corona to Desert Hot Springs was struck and killed by a speeding police car while trying to cross a street Monday night.

•  A pedestrian was hit and killed by a police car that was traveling 45 mph in a 35 mph zone.

•  The pedestrian was wearing dark clothing at night and was not in a crosswalk.

•  The police officer has been placed on administrative leave while the CHP investigates the accident.

The accident occurred at about 10 p.m., according to a report in the Desert Sun.

A 44-year-old police officer, whose name was withheld, was driving his patrol car 45 mph — 10 mph over the posted speed limit — on Palm Drive when John Howe Jr. tried to cross the street between Cahuilla and Desert View avenues, the California Highway Patrol report stated.

Howe was not in a crosswalk, CHP officer Chris Prietto said. The area was dark and he was wearing dark clothing.

“There was one street light in the area, but the light was far enough away that it was dark in that particular location,” Prietto said.

The patrol car struck and killed the pedestrian, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

The police officer was not injured. He was placed on paid administrative leave while the accident is being investigated by the CHP, Desert Hot Springs Police Department commander Dan Bressler said.

Bressler said jaywalking is a problem along Palm Drive, which is one of the city’s major thoroughfares.

Local resident Paula Zermeno, who has lived in Desert Hot Springs for more than 20 years, said there are not enough crosswalks in the area, which is why so many people jaywalk.

“I cross [in the location where Howe was hit) and wherever I can," Zermeno told KPSP News. "Otherwise, you have to walk all the way to Pierson Boulevard or Hacienda Avenue to catch a crosswalk."  Those streets are each four blocks away, in opposite directions, from the spot where Howe was struck and killed (see map, below).

Another pedestrian, 49-year-old Roger Mason Pace, was struck and killed just a few blocks away (closer to Hacienda Avenue) two months ago, on October 20.

The green dotted lines indicate locations of crosswalks on Palm Drive, according to local residents. The marker shows the site of the latest pedestrian fatality.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have been representing injury victims for 35 years and have special expertise in cases involving pedestrian accident injuries and fatalities.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

CHP officers get information from the drivers license of a man who was killed in an SUV rollover accident. (Photo: Ventura County Star)

A Ventura man who was killed in an SUV rollover accident Monday afternoon died from positional asphyxia, officials said. This begs the question: Did the design of the man’s seat belt cause his death?

•  A driver apparently lost control of his SUV and it went off of the highway, then rolled down an embankment.

•  The SUV landed on its roof. The driver, who was wearing a seat belt, died.

•  An autopsy showed the cause of death to be positional asphyxiation.

The highway crash occurred shortly after 3:30 p.m., according to a report in the Ventura County Star.

Gary Williams was driving a sports utility vehicle north on Highway 101 at the time of the accident, according to the California Highway Patrol.

As the SUV approached the Highway 126 interchange, it veered to the right across the transition road. The SUV then went completely off the road, hit an asphalt berm, overturned, and rolled down an embankment, the Star reported in an update. The vehicle eventually landed on its roof about 50 feet down the embankment, the CHP said.

Williams, who was wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy performed on Tuesday indicated that he died from positional asphyxia, which occurs when a person is in a position that prevents adequate breathing.

In rollover accidents, especially when the vehicle lands on its roof, it is not uncommon for a victim to be suspended upside down from a seat belt. A 2007 study published in the American Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology concluded that many positional asphyxia deaths in rollover accidents could be prevented by redesigning seat belts to permit easier release.

Study authors emphasized that seat belts “are proven to prevent serious injury in motor vehicle crashes and should always be worn.” They also were careful to note that other issues such as “incapacitation due to other injuries, alcohol, or obesity” could be factors in asphyxia fatalities in rollover accidents.

However, after looking at a number of cases in San Diego County, the authors concluded that “these are potentially preventable deaths” and that redesign of the buckle on seat belts might save lives.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have been representing clients in cases involving SUV rollover accidents for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A 32-year-old woman was arrested Thursday after her 21-year-old male passenger suffered a fatal fall from her pickup truck. The woman just kept driving and left the young man in the road to die.

•  CHP investigators believe Enrique Alvarez fell from the bed of a pickup truck driven by Rubi Ann Martinez early Wednesday morning.

•  His dead body was found lying on the highway. He may have been hit by another vehicle.

•  Martinez, who has a long criminal record, was charged with felony hit-and-run, manslaughter with gross negligence, driving under the influence with injury, and violating probation.

The drunk driving accident occurred very early Wednesday morning, according to a KTVU News report.

The California Highway Patrol believes that Rubi Ann Martinez Enrique Ramirez Alvarez to ride in the open bed of her 1996 GMC pickup truck while driving on northbound U.S. Highway 101 in Santa Rosa.

Alvarez fell out of the truck and may have been hit by another vehicle before a motorist discovered his body lying in the road. The motorist stopped behind Alvarez so no one else would hit him, and then alerted police at around 1:30 a.m., KTVU reported.

Alvarez was pronounced dead at the scene at about 2 a.m.

Investigators initially thought Alvarez may have been murdered because of a puncture wound that appeared to be a gunshot. After an  autopsy revealed that the puncture wound was caused by a compound fracture, the CHP took over the investigation as a hit-and-run. The autopsy also showed that Alvarez suffered a broken neck, a fractured thigh bone and major internal injuries, CHP officer Jon Sloat told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

Sloat said investigators have evidence that Martinez was drunk and knew Alvarez fell out of the truck. She allegedly decided not to return to help him or call authorities. Investigators believe she tried to conceal the incident.

Martinez was booked Thursday and charged with felony hit-and-run, manslaughter with gross negligence, driving under the influence with injury, and violating probation, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. She is being held in Sonoma County jail, where she is not eligible for bail. She has an extensive criminal record, Sloat said.

Detectives are searching for a possible third person who may have been in the pickup truck. They also are looking for the driver of another car that may have hit Alvarez after he fell out of the truck.

Alvarez was a graduate of Windsor High School.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have been representing families in wrongful death cases for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Joseph Edwards (left) and Bernice Gonzales rescued four people from a sinking car. (Photo: NBC News)

A homeless Merced couple became true heroes last Friday when they rescued four people by pulling them out of a sinking car.

•  A Volkswagen beetle with four people inside slid over an embankment and into a creek, where it quickly started sinking.

•  A homeless couple who were standing under the bridge saw the accident. The woman called 911 and the man jumped into the rushing water and rescued all four people.

•  All four suffered only minor injuries. Without the heroism of the homeless man, they probably would have drowned.

Joseph Edwards and Bernice Gonzales were standing under a bridge on Bear Creek Drive, where they sought shelter from the torrential downpour, according to an NBC News report.

“We’re houseless at the moment,” Edwards explained.

As they stood there waiting for the rain to let up, they heard a loud bang when a Volkswagen beetle hit a curb. Then they saw “a quick flash of the car going up over the bank,” Edwards said.

The car had gone into a slide on the rain-slicked road, hit the curb, bounced over it, slid down a dirt embankment and into the creek, where it quickly began to sink.

“The car was submerged in 10 feet of water,” Edwards said. “I was scared.  The first thing in my mind was how many people were in the car.”

There were four young adults inside — and the car was sinking fast.

Edwards quickly tossed his cell phone to Gonzales, told her to call 911, and jumped into the rushing creek. He was able to pull three people out of the car and onto the embankment.

“I asked one of the ladies if there was anyone else and she said yes, that someone was missing,” Edwards said.

Edwards went back down into the creek and felt around in the murky water until he found the fourth person. He was able to move the man into shallower water and pull him to safety.

Police arrived at that time, in response to Gonzales’ 911 call. Rescue workers immediately transported all four of the sunken car’s passengers to area hospitals, where they were treated for minor injuries and released the same night. If it weren’t for Edwards, they likely would have drowned.

Edwards was humble when asked about his heroism.

“I’m just glad they’re all safe,” he said. “I’m thankful they can all spend another Christmas with their families.”

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have been representing car accident injury victims for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputy has been charged with felony child endangerment in connection with a fireworks accident that seriously injured a 10-year-old girl.

•  An off-duty deputy brought an illegal Roman candle to a Fourth of July party and asked a child to help him set it off.

•  The firework exploded in their hands and the little girl lost her thumb and all of her fingers except her “pinkie.”

•  The deputy is being charged with felony child endangerment, inflicting great bodily injury while committing a felony, and possession of dangerous fireworks without a permit.

The District Attorney’s office made the announcement Wednesday, according to a report in the Eureka Times-Standard.

Joe Marsh could face nine years in prison if he is convicted on all charges against him: felony child endangerment, a special allegation of inflicting great bodily injury while committing a felony and possession of dangerous fireworks without a permit.

The accident occurred on July 4. Marsh was off-duty at the time.

Marsh brought what he thought was a Roman candle to an Independence Day gathering at a friend’s property, said Joe Shinn, the injured girl’s father. Roman candles are illegal in California.

Shinn said Marsh asked his daughter, Jessi Shinn, to help him set off the firework. Both Marsh and the girl were holding the Roman candle when it was lit. Marsh was holding it with his left hand and the girl was holding it with her right, as they aimed the candle to shoot a stream of sparks into the air.

But the firework fizzled and exploded in their hands. Both Marsh and the girl suffered catastrophic injuries. The girl lost her thumb and all of her fingers except her “pinkie.” Marsh lost several fingers and sustained serious burn injuries on his arm.

Both were rushed to emergency trauma units and then airlifted to other hospitals for specialized treatments.

After a lengthy investigation, District Attorney Paul Gallegos decided to file criminal charges against Marsh. None of the other adults was charged because there was not sufficient evidence against them, Gallegos said.

“It’s not just poor choices that get you in trouble,” he said. “They have to be criminally poor choices.”

Gallegos said Marsh has served the community well as a deputy, but that was not a factor in this case.

“We hold everyone equally accountable to the law,” Gallegos said.

Marsh’s arraignment is scheduled for January 21. Jessi is scheduled to have surgery this summer to transplant a toe from each of her feet onto her injured hand to serve as a ring finger and a thumb.

Renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman and the Blackman Legal Group have been representing injury victims for 35 years. They have special expertise in cases involving castastophic injuries. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Slick roads continued to cause accidents Tuesday as a rainy pile-up on Conejo Grade (Highway 101) landed one man in the hospital and stalled Camarillo commute traffic for hours.

•  A senior center passenger van was stalled in the middle lane of southbound Highway 101 with its emergency blinkers flashing.

•  A car traveling at an unsafe speed for the wet conditions rear-ended the passenger van and slid into another lane, where it was hit by a third vehicle. As many as six vehicles may have been involved.

•  A 59-year-old passenger in the second vehicle was hospitalized with chest injuries; there were no passengers in the van.

The multi-vehicle accident occurred right in the middle of the morning rush hour, shortly after 7:15 a.m. , according to a report in the Ventura County Star.

It started with a disabled Mountainview Adult Day Health Care passenger van that was stalled in one of the middle lanes on southbound Highway 101, California Highway Patrol officer Randy Pickens said.

The van driver, 33-year-old Koci Dashamir of Camarillo, had turned on his emergency flasher signals and was waiting for a tow truck when a sedan driven by 36-year-old Hector Garcia of Port Hueneme came up from behind and crashed into the van.

The impact forced Garcia’s car into another lane, where it was hit by another sedan, driven by 50-year-old Elizabeth Ramos of Camarillo. No citations were immediately issued, but Pickens said Garcia was driving at an unsafe speed under the conditions — rain, slick roads, and a vehicle stopped in the middle of the highway.

Garcia’s father, 59-year-old Fidel Garcia of Oxnard, was riding in the front passenger seat. He suffered serious injuries and was rushed to Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center, where he was admitted. He sustained chest injuries, Pickens said. He was listed in fair and stable condition.

Fortunately, there were no passengers in the senior transport van. Dashamir was driving from his home in Camarillo to pick up seniors in Thousand Oaks and take them to the West Hills center.

The news report mentioned only these three vehicles, but other drivers who commented on the Star’s website said as many as six cars were involved.

“Really bad accident — I was about 10 cars behind it,” one reader commented. “Looked to be 6-8 cars involved, and it went all the way from the slow lane over into the fast.”

All lanes but the fast lane to the extreme left were closed for at least 40 minutes, Pickens said. Traffic was backed up for several miles.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have been representing injury victims for 35 years and have special expertise in cases involving highway and interstate crashes. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A North San Diego County orchard caretaker was killed when his leg was caught in a wood chipper.

An orchard worker died in a wood chipper accident Tuesday in North San Diego County.

•  An avocado grove caretaker’s foot used his foot to push branches into a wood chipper and his leg was pulled into the machine.

•  His son, who was working with him, was not able to get the chipper turned off in time to save him.

•  The caretaker, who had worked at the orchard for 20 years, died at the scene.

The workplace accident occurred shortly before 3:30 p.m., according to a report in the San Diego Union Tribune.

Police said 49-year-old Martimiano Morales Carreon and his son were clearing trees in an avocado grove at 9329 Moon Ridge Road in Rainbow when the accident occurred.

Carreon used his foot to push a large pile of branches through the commercial chipper, said Deputy James McConnaughey.

Carreon’s foot got entangled in the brush and was pulled into the chipper. Carreon’s son was able to stop the chipper, but the caretaker’s lower body already had been pulled into the machine.

His son managed to get him out of the chipper, but he had already suffered fatal injuries to his lower body, McConnaughey said.

Carreon was pronounced dead at the scene. He had worked at that orchard as a caretaker for 20 years, officials said.

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) is investigating the accident.

Fatal wood chipper accidents are more common than reported, according to the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA). The most commonly quoted Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) figures, which concluded that only 31 fatal wood chipper accidents occurred between 1992 and 2002, are not accurate, the organization says.

“An ongoing research project on tree worker safety being conducted by South Dakota State University (SDSU) indicates that chipper fatalities are occurring sometimes as often as twice a month, as opposed to the oft-cited statistic of less than three a year,” a TCIA report states.

The underreported fatalities put tree workers in danger by giving them a false sense of safety around chippers, the TCIA suggests.

“If tree workers knew that at least one person was killed while chipping every two weeks or so, they might be more inclined to quit standing on the feed table and begin working in a safer manner,” the report states.

The SDSU study of chipper accidents from 1997 to 2008 indicates that the majority of fatalities involve unsafe use of the machines, especially using feet to push branches into the machine.

If employers don’t properly train workers about how to safely use wood chippers  – and enforce those safety standards — the number of wood chipper fatalities will continue to rise.

Renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman and the lawyers at Blackman Legal Group have successfully represented families of workplace accident fatality victims for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

‘Tis the season to be extra cautious about fires in your home. Most people love holiday decorations, including Christmas trees, lights and candles, but these can present a serious fire hazard if not carefully monitored.

•  There were at least 166 Christmas tree fires and 100 Christmas decoration fires in California last year.

•  At least 80 people have been killed in fires (all causes) in California this year.

•  Following some simple safety tips can help prevent a fire in your home this holiday season.

Thousands of people across the U.S. suffer severe burn injuries in holiday-season fires every year. In California alone, 166 Christmas tree fires were reported to the Office of the State Fire Marshal last year, according to a Cal Fire news release issued Thursday. Another 100 fires were started when Christmas decorations ignited.

As of December 1 this year, there were a total of nearly 40,000 reported fire incidents (all causes) that caused more than 80 deaths in California.

“We don’t want a fire to devastate your holiday celebrations,” Cal Fire’s acting state fire marshal Tonya Hoover said in the release.

Practicing a few simple holiday season fire safety tips can help to prevent a fire in your home.

Christmas Trees

•  When selecting your Christmas tree, choose a fresh one with green needles.

•  Check the water level in the tree stand every day.

•  Keep the tree at least 3 feet away from any heat source including fireplaces and heating vents.

•  Never use lit candles to decorate a tree.

Holiday Lights

•  Keep outdoor decorative lights outdoors and indoor lights indoors.

•  Inspect lights every year for frayed wires or cracked sockets.

•  Don’t link more than 3 light strands together unless the directions indicate it is safe to do so.

•  Turn decorative lights out when you leave the house or go to bed.

•  Only use lights that have been tested and labeled by a recognized testing laboratory.

Candle Safety

•  Make sure candles are in a stable holder and placed where they cannot be easily knocked over.

•  Position candles away from anything that can burn.

•  Never leave lit candles unattended.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have been representing  victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.