Truck Slams Into Rear of Car; 1 Killed, 3 Hurt

One motorist was killed and another critically injured Tuesday when a car that was apparently being driven without its lights on was struck from behind by a truck on the San Diego Freeway in Van Nuys, the California Highway Patrol reported.

A 29-year-old Sepulveda woman was killed when she was ejected from a Ford Pinto after it was struck from behind at 2:45 a.m. in the freeway’s northbound lanes near Sherman Way, Officer R.E. Carter said. The woman’s name was not released.

Roy Dragoo, 24, of Los Angeles, who was also in the Pinto, suffered critical head injuries in the accident and was taken to Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, Carter said.

Carter said the Pinto was in the outside lane of the freeway, either moving slowly or having stopped, when it was struck by a tractor-trailer rig. The driver of the truck, Jacques Vann, 25, of Northridge told investigators that the Pinto had no lights on and that he did not see the car until it was too late to avoid hitting it.

The impact of the crash knocked the Pinto onto its side and into another lane of traffic, where it was then struck by a pickup truck driven by Patricia Donahue, 18, of West Los Angeles, Carter said. Vann and Donahue suffered only minor injuries.

An investigation of the accident was continuing. Carter said investigators had not been able to determine whether Dragoo or the woman who was killed had been driving the Pinto.