Tag

Reverend Wolfgang Krismanits, known as “Father Wolf,” was killed in a car accident on Highway 156 in Hollister. (Accident photo: CBS | Inset: Union-Democrat)

Fatal car accident: An Anglican priest and his wife were killed Tuesday afternoon when their car crashed into a big-rig after being struck by another car that ran a red light on Highway 156 in Hollister.

•   The driver of a Nissan Altima ran a red light at the intersection with a busy rural highway.

•  The Altima crashed into a Mercury Sable on the highway, pushing it underneath a big-rig.

•   The driver of the Sable, a local priest, died at the scene. His wife died from her injuries shortly thereafter.  The Altima driver was airlifted to a hospital with major injuries.

The deadly big-rig collision occurred on State Highway 156 at San Felipe Road at 3:20 p.m., according to a report in the local newspaper, the Union-Democrat.

California Highway Patrol Officer Dakota Smith said 24-year-old Rudy Lopez of Morgan Hill was driving a Nissan Altima southbound on San Felipe Road when he approached the intersection with Highway 156.

Lopez ran a red light at the intersection and crashed into a 2002 Mercury Sable traveling eastbound on Highway 156, Smith said.

The impact pushed the Mercury underneath a westbound big-rig, driven by Rosario Medina, 42, of Salinas. Lopez’s car hit a power pole and tumbled down an embankment.

The driver of the Mercury Sable, 60-year-old Reverend Wolfgang Krismanits of Sonora, died at the scene. Known to his followers as “Father Wolf,” Krismanits was an Anglican priest at the historic Red Church in Sonora.

His wife, 51-year-old Ladonn Ann Krismanits, was severely injured. She was transported to Hazel Hawkins Hospital in Hollister, where she succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead.

Lopez was airlifted via helicopter to San Jose Regional Medical Center with major injuries. The big-rig driver was not hurt.

The CHP said the weather conditions were warm and clear at the time of the accident.

Hollister Car Accident Lawyers

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

A reserve police officer was arrested for a DUI crash that killed another officer in Santa Paula. (Booking photo: Ventura County Sheriff’s Office)

A reserve police officer is facing felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter charges after an off-duty drunk driving accident killed another police officer Sunday night near Santa Paula.

•    An off-duty police officer lost control of his Jeep on a winding mountain road and the vehicle rolled over, pinning his front-seat passenger underneath.

•    The victim, also an off-duty officer, died at the scene.

•    The driver was arrested on felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter charges.

The fatal car accident occurred shortly before 9:15 p.m. on Mountain Lookout Road near Coyote Canyon Road, according to a report in the Ventura County Star.

Police said 44-year-old volunteer reserve police officer Christopher Blankenship of Santa Paula was driving a 1984 Jeep Wrangler east on the winding mountain road when he failed to negotiate a right curve and lost control of his vehicle.

Kimberley Hemminger

The Jeep spun out and rolled over, partially ejecting the front-seat passenger, 33-year-old Santa Paula police officer Kimberley Hemminger. Hemminger was pinned under the Jeep and suffered neck injuries that proved to be  fatal, according to a KEYT News report. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Two other passengers whose names were not released suffered minor injuries.

Blankenship was not injured. He was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter. He was booked into the Ventura County Jail and released Monday on $50,000 bail.

It is not known whether the victim also had been drinking, the coroner’s office said. Toxicology results are expected within a few weeks.

“It’s real tragic,” Santa Paula Mayor Robert Gonzales told the Star. “She was a good police officer.”

Santa Paula Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented drunk driving accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A teen driver was arrested in connection with a fatal hit-and-run accident that killed a pedestrian on I-8 in San Diego.

An 18-year-old driver who admitted she had been drinking was arrested Sunday in relation to a fatal pedestrian accident on eastbound Interstate 8 in the Ocean Beach area of San Diego.

•   An 18-year-old woman drove home after drinking alcohol and hit what she thought was a sofa on the freeway.

•   The next day she saw news about a fatal pedestrian accident and  turned herself in to police.

•   She was booked on felony felony hit-and-run and driving under the influence.

The hit-and-run accident occurred shortly before 4:30 a.m., according to a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

California Highway Patrol public information officer Art Athans said the body of 23-year-old Sho Funai was found alongside the freeway, just east of Nimitz Boulevard.

Investigators did not know why Funai was walking on the freeway. A former Rancho Palos Verdes resident, Funai was a student at U.C. San Diego, according to NBC News.

A teen driver — Nikolette Kristina Gallo of Rancho Penasquitos – turned herself in to police in connection with the accident. She told CHP investigators she had just dropped off a friend in the beach area and was on her way home when she hit what she thought was a discarded sofa alongside the eastbound side of the freeway, Athans said.

Gallo told CHP officers she saw a news report the next morning and then told her father she was afraid she may have been the driver in the fatal pedestrian accident, Athens told Channel 6 News. Her father hired an attorney, who contacted the CHP.

CHP officers went to Gallo’s home Sunday at about noon and questioned the teen, who admitted she had been drinking before she got behind the wheel. The officers inspected her 2007 Toyota Camry, which had major front-end damage, Athans said.

The officers arrested Gallo on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and driving under the influence. She was booked into the Las Colinas Detention Facility and released on bail later in the day, a jail clerk told Channel 6.

The legal blood alcohol limit for over-21 drivers is 0.08 percent in California, but the state’s ”zero tolerance” DUI law makes it illegal for drivers under 21 years old to drive with any alcohol at all in their systems.

San Diego Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

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

Two people were killed Friday night in a fiery DUI crash on I-25 in San Diego. (Photos: Channel 10 News)

A woman and her grandson were killed in a fiery DUI crash Friday night when a driver who said he had too much to drink at an office Christmas party slammed into their SUV on Route 25 in San Diego.

•   A drunk driver was speeding on the freeway and slammed into another vehicle that had slowed  for merging traffic.

•   Both vehicles burst into flames. The drunk driver escaped from his pickup truck without injury, but the woman and her grandson inside the other vehicle were trapped inside and burned to death.

•   The driver was charged with manslaughter and at least two other counts of felony drunk driving.

The highway crash occurred at about 5:45 p.m, accordig to a Channel 10 News report.

The California Highway Patrol said 73-year-old Celia Torres and her grandson, 16-year-old David Gonzalez, were traveling south on Route 125 in their Nissan Pathfinder. They were en route to Tijuana for a dentist’s appointment.

At the same time, 39-year-old Justin Foulds of Lemon Grove also was driving a Chevrolet Silverado south on Route 125, the CHP said. He was driving home, under the influence of alcohol, after a work-related Christmas party.

Traffic had slowed almost to a stop for merging traffic. Foulds was speeding and did not realize the cars were moving so slowly until it was too late to stop, the CHP said. He sideswiped one car and then slammed into the Pathfinder.

“He was oblivious to what he was doing until he smashed into another car,” witness Jeff Lieras told NBC News.

Foulds’ pickup truck and the Pathfinder both burst into flames. At least one explosion was reported.

“It sounded like bombs,” witness Kevin Mize told Channel 10 News. “I mean, it was a huge explosion.”

Mize, who works at a Ford dealership next to the freeway, ran out to see what had happened. He saw huge flames blasting out from both vehicles and people running to try to get away.

Foulds got out of his truck safely, but Torres and her grandson were trapped in their burning vehicle. The first witness at the scene, Jeff Lieres, stopped to help but the flame was so hot he couldn’t get close to the vehicle.

“It was like a war zone, I’m telling you,” Lieres told Channel 10. ”It was extremely hot. You could feel the heat radiating… around the area, so it was not even going to be feasible to get to those people.”

Torres and her grandson never had a chance. Both of them died inside their vehicle. They were burned so badly that authorities were not immediately able to identify them. Their families identified them on Saturday.

Lieres said Fouldes — who was not injured — was visibly drunk.

“From what I could see, he stumbled out of the car and was immediately hauled off by the CHP.”

Fouldes was arrested and booked into the San Diego Central Jail on Front Street, according to NBC News. He faces a gross vehicle manslaughter charge as well as two felony drunk driving charges. His bail was set at $500,000.

UPDATE:

CHP investigators have learned that Foulds was not at an office party before the accident. A spokesperson for the company he works for — El Cajon glazing business Division 8, Inc. — said the Christmas party did not take place until the following (Saturday) night.  He said the company let everyone leave early, at about 3 p.m., and some of them may have gone to a bar afterward. [Patch.com]

Here are more photos from the accident. Click on a thumbnail to see the full-size image.

San Diego Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented drunk driving accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A man died when his car was struck by a freight train in Placentia. (Photo: KTLA)

A man was killed when a freight train crashed into his car and pushed it about a quarter-mile down the tracks Friday morning in Placentia.

•   A freight train and a Toyota Corolla were traveling the same direction — the train on the tracks and the car on a street that runs parallel to the tracks. 

•   Witnesses said the Toyota turned right and crossed into the train’s path. Police do not yet know if that is accurate.

•   The train crashed into the car and pushed it a quater-mile down the tracks.

•   The driver of the car died at the scene.

The fatal accident occurred shortly before 8 a.m., according to a report in the Orange County Register.

Anaheim police Sgt. Bob Dunn said the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway freight train was traveling east on the tracks when it crashed into a Toyota Corolla near Tustin and Orangethorpe avenues in Anaheim.

Witnesses reported that the Toyota, which had been traveling in the same direction as the train on Orangethorpe Avenue, made a right turn into the train’s path at the Tustin Avenue crossing, Dunn told NBC News.

The Toyota, driven by a man in his 30s, went under the crossing arm and onto the tracks, Dunn said.

After the train struck the Toyota, it pushed the car for almost a quarter-mile down the tracks before coming to a stop near Jefferson Street in Placentia.

“The crash occurred in Anaheim, but the train stopped in Placentia,” Dunn said.

The driver of the car, whose name was withheld by authorities, was pinned inside of his vehicle. He died while firefighters were trying to free him from the car, Orange County fire captain Mark Stone told the Los Angeles Times. Paramedics pronounced the victim dead at the scene.

It is not known if the engineer sounded the train’s horn before it crashed into the Toyota. The crossing where the collision occurred is part of a federally designated “quiet zone,” according to the OC Register. It has crossing gates, medians and warning signals designed to prevent crossing accidents. Engineers are not required to sound their horns in quiet zones, unless it is an emergency situation.

Investigators are still trying to determine exactly how the fatal accident happened. Dunn said police do not know if the victim intentionally drove in front of the train. Police are looking into all possibilities, he said.

Firefighters and police from Anaheim, Fullerton and Placentia responded to the accident. Authorities closed Orangethorpe Avenue from Tustin Avenue to Jefferson Street while emergency crews cleared the scene and police invetsigated the accident.

After the car was removed from the tracks, the train continued on toward it’s destination in Chicago, NBC reported.

Orange County Train Crash Lawyers

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

Thanksgiving Day tragedy: A brother and sister were killed in an SUV rollover crash on I-5 near Bakersfield. (Photo: KGET News)

An Oxnard family’s Thanksgiving turned tragic when two of them were killed in an SUV rollover crash on Interstate 5 near Bakersfield.

•   Seven people were traveling to Reno for their family’s Thanksgiving celebration. The person driving their SUV lost control of the vehicle on I-5 near Bakersfield.

•   The SUV rolled over and landed upside down on the freeway. 

•   Two of them were killed. The other five were hospitalized.

The deadly freeway accident occurred at around 5 a.m., according to a report in the Bakersfield Californian.

California Highway Patrol officer Doug Peters said seven family members were en route to Reno for Thanksgiving dinner when the accident happened. They were traveling together in a 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer driven by 36-year-old Miguel Alfaro.

The SUV was moving northbound in the fast lane at about 70 mph when it began to drift toward the center divider. Alfaro attempted to correct it by steering to the right, but lost control of the vehicle, Peters said. The SUV overturned and rolled into the southbound lanes, where it landed on its roof.

Two of the passengers who were riding in the right rear seat and the back cargo area – 17-year-old Daisy Alfaro and 24-year-old Jesus Alfaro — were thrown out of the vehicle. Peters said they probably had not been wearing seat belts. Both of them died at the scene.

The driver and four surviving passengers — 35-year-old Diana Alfaro, 13-year-old  Miguel Alfaro Jr., 3-year-old Maximus Alfaro, and 1-year-old Matthew Alfaro – suffered mostly minor to moderate injuries. All of them were taken to Kern County Medical Center in Bakersfield to be treated.

One of them suffered major injuries and was airlifted to the hospital via helicopter, CHP officer Vincent Pagano told KGET News, a local NBC affiliate. Pagano did say which person that was.

The CHP did not say what caused the SUV to drift in the first place.

The freeway was closed for more than two hours while emergency crews cleared the scene and CHP officials conducted their investigation.

SUV Rollover Crashes

One of the main reasons a lot of families buy SUVs is that they appear to be safer than smaller, lighter cars. But SUVs have a higher center of gravity and roll over much more easily than a lower-riding passenger sedan. Tire problems and turning quickly can cause an SUV to roll over.

Many of the new SUV models manufactured after 2009 are being built on a passenger car chassis rather than a truck chassis, which may make them less prone to rollover crashes.

Bakersfield Rollover Crash Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented SUV rollover crash victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A pickup truck driver and three teens were killed Tuesday when the truck ran a stop sign and collided with a Tulare County work crew van near Porterville. (Photo: ABC News)

Three people were killed and seven others seriously injured Tuesday when a pickup truck ran a stop sign and collided with a Tulare County work crew van just outside of Porterville, about 22 miles south of Visalia.

• A pickup truck ran a stop sign on a rural highway and collided with a van transporting a juvenile work crew.

• The vehicles collided and tumbled off the highway.

• The pickup truck driver and two of the teens died at the scene. Five others were hospitalized with major injuries.

The fatal passenger van accident occurred at about 11 a.m., according to a report in the Porterville Recorder.

California Highway Patrol Lieutenant James Swearingen said 37-year-old Porterville resident Juan Reyes was driving a J & W Tire Service pickup truck north on Road 152 when he arrived at the intersection of Highway 190 (Poplar Avenue) and ran the stop sign there.

At the same time, a Tulare County Probation Office van hauling a small trailer was headed eastbound on Highway 190. The van was transporting a juvenile work crew back to the probation office in Porterville after a community service assignment in Earlimart.

When Reyes ran the stop sign, the van wasn’t able to avoid slamming into it. The van T-boned the pickup truck and the impact sent both vehicles off the road and into a nearby cornfield.

Five passengers were ejected from the van. Two of them — 15-year-old Deshawn Moore and 17-year-old Ingrid Coronel, both of Porterville — were pronounced dead at the scene, as was Reyes.

Seven others sustained major injuries.

Two of the juveniles — 15-year-old Abel Auntunez of Lindsay and 16-year-old Robbie Hernandez of Porterville — were airlifted to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, where they remain in critical condition.

The van driver, 45-year-old Darrel Fitzgerald Drone of Lemoore, and four other juveniles — 17-year-old Sonny Gutierrez of Lindsay, 15-year-old Pablo Rodriguez, 17-year-old Edgar Saucedo and 15-year-old Reynaldo Millan, all of Porterville — were transported via ground ambulance to Kaweah Delta District Hospital in Visalia, where they remain hospitalized.

“They were probably working off community service, trying to pay their debt to society one way or another and then they are involved in an accident where they are killed or seriously injured,’ Visalia CHP public information officer Scott Harris told the Visalia Times-Delta. “It’s really sad.”

Tipton resident Eddie Martin, who lives on Road 152 near the intersection, said he’d seen six fatal accidents there in 20 years.

“When you’ve seen as many as I’ve seen here, it’s not surprising,” Martin said. “People know my corner as the bad corner. But the corner is only as bad as the people [who] drive here.”

The accident is still under investigation. The CHP said drugs and/or alcohol don’t appear to be a factor.

Visalia Passenger Van Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented passenger van accident victims and their families for more than 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A San Ramon woman slipped and fell to her death while descending Half-Dome in Yosemite.

Yosemite’s second fatal accident in two weeks took the life of a 26-year-old San Ramon woman who slipped and fell from the Half Dome cables at the national park on Sunday.

•   A hiker and three friends who had a permit to climb Half Dome were among about 20 hikers who made the ascent Sunday morning.

•  At 11 a.m., park officials started sending Twitter messages warning of a thunderstorm. The rains made the granite peak especially slippery.

•   The San Ramon woman successfully climbed Half Dome but slipped and fell 600 feet down from the park-installed cables on her way down. She died at the scene.

The accident occurred shortly before noon, according to a report in the San Ramon Express.

Yosemite Park Ranger Kari Cobb said Hayley LaFlamme had had a permit to climb Half Dome. She made the ascent with three friends. They were among a group of about 20 hikers who climbed the mountain that morning despite the possibility of rain, which can make the granite peak extremely slippery.

At about 11 a.m., park officials started sending messages on Twitter about a thunder storm, according to an Associated Press report. But LaFlamme and her friends were already on the mountain.

The San Ramon hiker successfully made the 8.5-mile climb to the top of Half Dome. She was on her way back down, using cables installed by park officials, when she somehow slipped and fell 600 feet down from the shoulder of the dome where the cables end, Cobb said.

The park’s emergency communications center received a 911 call reporting that a hiker had fallen from the cables. Park rangers responded to the scene but LaFlamme already had died.

The fatal accident was the second in two weeks. On July 19, three hikers were swept over the rushing Vernal Fall after they climbed over a metal railing and entered the Merced River. (Read more: Presumed Dead: Three Hikers Swept Over Raging Yosemite Waterfall)

“A lot of people who visit Yosemite aren’t necessarily familiar with nature,” Cobb said. “They are really out of their element and may not understand the force of nature and what they may encounter in nature.”

But Fresno State psychology professor Paul Price doesn’t blame the park visitors, especially when trails are kept open under dangerous conditions.

“If the trail isn’t closed, people tend to take that as a source of information: Wouldn’t they tell us not to do it if it were dangerous?” Price said.

The last person to fall and die on Half Dome was Majoj Kumar, also of San Ramon. He died in June 2009. The hikers who witnessed the fall were so frightened that 40 of them refused to move and had to be rescued, Cobb said.

Yosemite Injury Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented injured travelers and their families for more than 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A Volvo driver was killed in a head-on collision with a pickup truck in San Jacinto. (Photo: Press-Enterprise) Click photo to see full size.

A 31-year-old man was killed in a head-on collision Tuesday morning when he failed to navigate a curve in front of a Scientology compound in San Jacinto.

•   A Volvo driver missed a curve, veered across a double-yellow line into oncoming traffic, and slammed head-on into a Chevy pickup truck.

•   The pickup truck driver was hospitalized with moderate injuries. The Volvo driver died at the scene.

•   Surveillance cameras at a Scientology compound caught the entire accident on videotape.

The fatal accident occurred at about 6:30 a.m., according to a report in the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

California Highway Patrol officers said Oscar Avila of Moreno Valley was driving a red 1996 Volvo westbound on Gilman Springs Road at the time of the crash.

Avila failed to negotiate a curve outside the Scientology compound, Golden Era Productions, and crossed over the double yellow lines into the eastbound lane.

An eastbound 2006 Chevrolet pickup truck swerved to try to avoid hitting the Volvo and barely sideswiped it. But the Volvo continued driving toward oncoming traffic and slammed head-on into an eastbound 1991 Chevrolet pickup truck driven by 41-year-old James Beach of Garner Valley.

Beach sustained moderate injuries and was hospitalized. The nature and extent of his injuries was not released.

Avila, who was driving the Volvo, died at the scene. He was pinned inside of his car. The Volvo was so mangled that firefighter rescue workers had to cut off the roof and then use a cutter and spreader to dismantle the vehicle in order to get Avila’s body out.

The CHP said all three drivers were wearing seat belts. Investigators have not ruled out alcohol or drugs as possible factors in the crash.

The Scientology compound has surveillance cameras that monitor the road — they caught the entire accident on videotape. Investigators are reviewing the tape to determine what happened.

San Jacinto Car Accident Lawyers

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