KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
A man who was killed in a fatal 5 Freeway crash north of Castaic Saturday, after striking a wheel that came over the center divider has been identified.
Leonard Rarick, 81, from San Diego was killed in the fatal 5 freeway crash, said Sarah Ardalani, spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office.
Around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, officers with the California Highway Patrol, (CHP) Newhall Area Office responded to a crash on the northbound 5 Freeway near Templin Highway, according to CHP reports.
“CHP officers arrived on scene and determined four vehicles were involved in the crash,” the report reads.
A Ford-350, towing a trailer, was traveling southbound on the 5 Freeway, north of Templin Highway, according to officials.
The truck and trailer struck an object in the roadway causing the trailer to lose a wheel, according to CHP officials.
The wheel from the trailer rolled into the no. 1 lane, where it was struck by a Ford Escape, according to the CHP reports.
“The wheel continued in a south-easterly direction, where it went over the center-divide wall, and into the
northbound lanes of I-5,” the report reads.
The errant wheel struck the left front of a Toyota Avalon, driven by Rarick.
As a result, the Toyota Avalon struck a Honda Accord.
Rarick, the driver of the Toyota Avalon was pronounced dead on arrival by paramedics with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
The passenger of the Toyota Avalon was airlifted to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital with minor injuries.
The driver of the Honda Accord sustained minor injuries and declined to be transported, according to CHP officials.
Anyone with information regarding the fatal 5 Freeway crash is encouraged to contact Officer Leatherman at the CHP Newhall Area Office at (661) 600-1600.
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In the last two months I’ve seen an SUV totaled because it struck a washing machine lying on the freeway, a sedan severely damaged because it hit a desk chair lying in the middle of the freeway, and another sedan damaged because of a large children’s toy flying out of the bed of a pickup. On Friday everyone on the 5 had to swerve around a stepladder that fell off a truck.
The poor man in this story died because debris was lying in the roadway. We already have laws about this (CVC 2803, 23114, and 23115) but we need to start enforcing them with more rigor.
Something on the roadway could have been a rock.
So let’s not jump to conclusions
Please thank Louie for his detailed reporting. (a brother of the man who was killed in this accident)