A drugged driver caused a 9-car freeway crash that seriously injured 13 people in Agua Dulce. (Photos: ABC News)
Freeway crash: A wrong-way driver who was high on meth caused a nine-car pile-up Monday on the Antelope Valley Freeway in Agua Dulce. Thirteen people were injured, three critically.
• A drugged driver drove the wrong way onto the 14 freeway and slammed head-on into multiple cars at 85 mph.
• Thirteen people were seriously injured in the accident, three critically.
• The drugged driver was arrested at the scene.
The drugged driving accident occurred at 4:26 p.m., on the northbound side of the freeway, according to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News.
California Highway Patrol officials said 54-year-old Rick Allen Walker, of Canyon Country, drove a white pickup truck onto the freeway heading southbound in the northbound lanes.
Walker continued to drive the wrong way at about 85 mph, passing two CHP officers who were stopped at another accident.
Walker’s truck crashed head-on into a Dodge 2500 pickup truck and continued on through the oncoming traffic, crashing into one car after another.
A KTLA News reporter said the wrong-way truck shot through the cars like a bullet, “knocking them down like a bowling ball slamming into pins.”
Nine vehicles were involved in the accident. As many as 13 people were injured, three of them critically.
The critically injured victims were airlifted to Antelope Valley Hospital, according to a City News Service (CNS) report published on the LAist news site. Those victims’ names were not released.
Many of the other victims also were not identified, but the CHP released a partial list list of those victims, according to CNS:
- Fernando Lopez, 48, of Lancaster was in a 1998 Toyota Tacoma pickup; he suffered major injuries, including a compound fracture of his left arm.
- David Becker, 53, of Palmdale was driving a GMC Sonoma pickup; he suffered major injuries including a broken back and was transported to Henry Mayo Hospital in Valencia.
- Maryann Looram, 59, of Palmdale was driving a 2001 Honda Accord; she suffered a broken back and was transported to Henry Mayo Hospital.
- Myisha Hatfied, 36, of Lancaster was driving a 2008 Infiniti. She suffered minor injuries and complained of pain.
Walker, the wrong-way driver who caused the accident, was given a sobriety test at the scene and was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of methamphetamine, according to the Daily News report. He was taken to the hospital to be treated for lacerations he sustained in the accident and was expected to be booked into Los Angeles County Jail as soon as he was discharged.
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