3 Killed, 2 Critically Injured in 4 Accidents Within 14-Hour Span

Three people were killed and two others critically injured in four separate traffic accidents within a 14-hour period Thursday and Friday.

The accidents occurred between early Thursday evening and the Friday morning rush hour in Calabasas, Studio City, Newhall and the Santa Monica Mountains.

In the first, a 16-year-old boy died after he was struck by a station wagon while roller-skating in Calabasas at about 5:50 p.m. Thursday. Jason Lewin of Calabasas was skating down a driveway into the 23600 block of Park Capri when he “apparently skated into the vehicle,” said Lt. Jim Glazar of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The car was driven by Carol Sank of Calabasas, who was uninjured, and “there were no apparent vehicle code violations,” Glazar said.

In the second accident, a 30-year-old man was killed Thursday evening after his small pickup truck veered into oncoming traffic on Topanga Canyon Boulevard north of Entrado Drive in the Santa Monica Mountains south of Woodland Hills.

The vehicle of the Panorama City resident, whose name was not released pending notification of his family, was traveling north at about 8:10 p.m. on Topanga Canyon Boulevard when his truck crossed a double yellow line into oncoming traffic, said California Highway Patrol Officer Ken Lane.

The truck collided head-on with another pickup traveling south driven by Bruce Ilves, 49, of Topanga, who “had no place to go to avoid him” on the two-lane road, Lane said. Ilves suffered minor injuries.

A Los Angeles County Fire Department hazardous-materials team cleaned up pool chemicals that spilled from the dead man’s truck, but no evacuations were necessary, Lane said.

In the third incident, one person was killed and another in critical condition after their car was hit broadside in Studio City early Friday morning, Los Angeles police reported.

The driver of the other car, Flint Mavis, 24, of Beverly Hills, was arrested, said Officer Dwight Gillett. The accident was apparently alcohol-related, he said.

The collision occurred at 12:40 a.m. Friday in the 3000 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard, when Mavis’ car, traveling south, crossed a double yellow line into the northbound lane, hitting the car of the two victims, said Officer J. Shelby.

The driver died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the passenger was in critical condition Friday evening at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center.

The fourth accident occurred during Friday morning’s rush hour, when Arthur Youngblood Jr., 53, of Lancaster, was critically injured in an accident involving a semi-trailer truck and three other vehicles on the Antelope Valley Freeway near Newhall.

The accident occurred at about 7:20 a.m., near the Sierra Highway northbound off-ramp, said CHP Officer Doug Sweeney.

Youngblood’s Jeep Cherokee drifted off the highway, collided with the trailer of a semi-trailer truck that was moving backward on the shoulder and was struck by another car, Sweeney said.

The driver of the truck, 34-year-old Araik Asaturovich of Glendale, had missed a mobile CHP weigh station north of Via Princessa, pulled off onto the shoulder and was backing up toward the scales, Sweeney said.

CHP investigators are still trying to determine why Youngblood drove onto the shoulder at about 65 mph, and did not brake before hitting the truck, he said.

Youngblood’s vehicle spun out of control into the highway and was struck by a car driven by Doug Popick, 50, of Agoura, which was then rear-ended by an auto driven by William Meyer, 36, of Moorpark.

Youngblood was in extremely critical condition at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital on Friday evening, Sweeney said. Popick was treated and released at the scene for a minor shoulder injury, he said. Asaturovich and Meyer were uninjured.

Times staff writer Jose Cardenas contributed to this story.