Man Dies in Holiday Weekend’s 2nd Fatal Crash

A Ventura man died Sunday in the second fatal accident of the holiday weekend after his car crashed into a utility pole near Lake Casitas, police said.

Michael Medina Ventura, 43, died of severe internal injuries after his 1988 Honda Accord slammed into a telephone pole at Santa Ana and Casitas Vista roads about 7:40 a.m., police said.

No other vehicles were involved in the accident, and Ventura was pronounced dead at the scene.

Accident investigators were not certain what caused the deadly crash but said there was no evidence that alcohol was involved. Coroners will perform a toxicology test to determine whether Medina was under the influence of another substance at the time of the accident.

California Highway Patrol officials said Medina’s death is the holiday weekend’s second road fatality in Ventura County. Last year, although it was a four-day holiday, the CHP reported no deaths during the Fourth of July weekend.

On Thursday, 22-year-old Jennifer Hutton of Castaic died when her car collided with a motor home on California 126 near Timber Canyon Road about 3 p.m. The accident, which closed one lane of the highway for six hours, snarled traffic and delayed holiday celebrants traveling to the coast from the Santa Clarita Valley.

As holiday revelers began packing up and heading home Sunday, the crowded freeways and roads also took their toll.

Two people were treated for minor injuries after their car rolled over on southbound California 33 half a mile north of Stanley Avenue in Ventura.

Four people were in the car when it went off the side of the road about 2:10 p.m. and overturned. Two of the occupants were taken to Ventura County Medical Center complaining of neck and pack pain.

Traffic on the freeway was not affected.

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But area roads were not the only danger zone during the holiday weekend.

Authorities said Jack Kedafin, 26, of Glendale drowned Friday afternoon while swimming at Surfer’s Knoll on Spinnaker Drive in Ventura. And Sheriff’s Department divers on Sunday spent their third day of scouring the depths of Lake Piru searching for a Long Beach man believed to have drowned Friday after he dove off a boat to rescue his child.

Officials said Liborio Dominguez disappeared about 1 p.m. after he dove off a rented boat to save his daughter who had fallen overboard. She was pulled to safety by others on the boat.

Two children also were injured in holiday-related incidents. One remains in the hospital.

A 3-year-old Oak View boy continues to improve at Ventura County Medical Center after being struck by a motor home Friday, and a 6-year-old Oxnard boy is recovering from minor to moderate injuries he suffered playing with fireworks.

Austin James Walgraeve was upgraded from serious to fair condition Sunday after being hit by the motor home on Old Rincon Highway. He was initially listed in critical condition, but hospital officials said the boy is making a speedy recovery.

Police said the driver of the motor home, 71-year-old Lloyd Lamonte Fechser of Carpinteria, swerved to miss the boy, who raced out into the road, but could not avoid the collision and struck the boy at about 40 mph.

Later that evening, a group of children was playing in a trailer park in the 5500 block of Cypress Road in Oxnard about 11 p.m. when one of the children dropped an illegal M-80 explosive down an underground stretch of metal tubing, Sgt. Scott Whitney said.

While the other children ran away, the 6-year-old boy stayed and looked down the tube when it exploded, cutting his face and seriously injuring his eyes. He suffered a second-degree burn.

Whitney said the boy, whose name was not released, could lose sight in one eye.

With the holiday revelry done for another year, thousands packed up their tents and motor homes at the county’s campgrounds and beaches and headed for home.

Beach rangers from Leo Carrillo State Beach south of Point Mugu to Hobson beach near the Santa Barbara County line said campers were slowly streaming out Sunday and crews began working to spruce up the grounds for next weekend’s flurry of outdoor enthusiasts.

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The picture-perfect weather that blessed holiday celebrants with golden sunshine and toasty temperatures should hold for the next few days with gusty winds developing in the afternoon in the county’s canyons and passes.

The countywide forecast for today calls for sunny skies with highs in the upper 70s on the coast and in the 90s inland. Surfers disheartened by the weekend’s knee-high waves will find a south swell building today through Tuesday.