Crash Leaves Man in Serious Condition

A 53-year-old Burbank man was in serious condition Monday after suffering major head and chest injuries in a weekend crash on the Ventura Freeway in La Conchita, authorities said.

In-Koo Yeo was riding in a van driven by 54-year-old Sungmok Cho of Granada Hills at about 2 p.m. Sunday when the van crashed into a motor home parked alongside the freeway, according to California Highway Patrol officers.

Authorities don’t know why the van, traveling southbound at about 70 mph, drifted from the slow lane, across a bike lane, and plowed into the rear driver’s side of the motor home.

The van, loaded with painting supplies, flipped over and came to rest on its side, trapping Yeo. Passersby, fearing the flammable liquids might explode, pulled Yeo from the van.

Authorities closed both southbound lanes for about 30 minutes so a Sheriff’s Department helicopter could airlift Yeo to Ventura County Medical Center.

Cho and the four occupants of the motor home were taken by ambulance to St. Francis Hospital in Santa Barbara, where they were treated for minor to moderate injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said.

CHP officers said the occupants of the motor home were all vacationing Colorado residents.

They were identified as 42-year-old Diana Williams and her husband, Kenneth, 38, and Sally Brown, 38, and her 43-year-old husband, Bob, all of Pagosa Springs, in southwestern Colorado.