Kaleidoscope Eyes
April 15th, 2008, 11:53 PM
Camarillo teen critically injured in fatal PCH crash
Police say alcohol, unsafe speed caused fatal accident
By Nancy Needham [email protected]
Sheriff's investigators suspect teen drinking and unsafe speed were factors in a single-vehicle accident Tuesday night that killed the teenage male driver and left a female passenger from Camarillo with critical head injuries. Two male teens in the car suffered broken bones.
The driver, along with four others in the car, including the Camarillo teen, are Newbury Park High School students, according to Traffic Sgt. Philip Brooks of the Malibu/Lost Hills Los Angeles County Sheriff's Station.
Cody James Murphy, a 17year-old high school junior, died when the 2007 Subaru Impreza he was driving slammed into the mountainside along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Cody died instantly when the driver's side of the car was crushed, Brooks said.
Brooks said the Camarillo teen is in "critically stable" condition at UCLA Medical Center.
The names and ages of the four survivors were not available at press time.
The accident occurred at about 10:05 p.m.
When emergency personnel arrived, the four survivors had helped each other out of the car, which had repeatedly rolled over, coming to rest upside-down in the middle of PCH between Broad Beach and Encinal Canyon roads, Brooks said.
He said the teens admitted they had been drinking at a concert in Hollywood earlier in the evening and at Santa Monica Pier, which they visited before heading home.
There was a large empty bottle of Jagermeister liqueur in the vehicle, Brooks said, along with a marijuana pipe and a medical marijuana container with a blue and white sticker.
The male juvenile in the front seat was treated at the scene and released, Brooks said. The two males in the back seat had broken hips and were taken to UCLA Medical Center. The female seated in the center of the back seat suffered critical head injuries and was airlifted to the same hospital.
The two injured boys are expected to be released within the next three days, he said. It is unknown when the Camarillo teen will be released, officials said.
Brooks, who was at the accident scene, has spent 25 years in law enforcement, devoting much of his time to giving lectures in an attempt to deter teens from driving under the influence, he said.
"We try to teach them and tell them, and tragedies keep happening. We have to keep getting the message out," Brooks said.
Newbury Park High School canceled their "Every 15 Minutes" program that was to be held April 24 and 25 because of sensitivity to the students who are grieving at this time.
The program stages a DUI auto accident to show teens the dangers of drunk driving.
Brooks said he disagrees with the school's decision to cancel the presentation and thinks the program would offer another hard reminder of the dangers of getting behind the wheel while intoxicated.
I know kids who go to Newbury Park, it's just up the hill from where I live. It's tragic, I'm just glad it's no one I know.
Police say alcohol, unsafe speed caused fatal accident
By Nancy Needham [email protected]
Sheriff's investigators suspect teen drinking and unsafe speed were factors in a single-vehicle accident Tuesday night that killed the teenage male driver and left a female passenger from Camarillo with critical head injuries. Two male teens in the car suffered broken bones.
The driver, along with four others in the car, including the Camarillo teen, are Newbury Park High School students, according to Traffic Sgt. Philip Brooks of the Malibu/Lost Hills Los Angeles County Sheriff's Station.
Cody James Murphy, a 17year-old high school junior, died when the 2007 Subaru Impreza he was driving slammed into the mountainside along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Cody died instantly when the driver's side of the car was crushed, Brooks said.
Brooks said the Camarillo teen is in "critically stable" condition at UCLA Medical Center.
The names and ages of the four survivors were not available at press time.
The accident occurred at about 10:05 p.m.
When emergency personnel arrived, the four survivors had helped each other out of the car, which had repeatedly rolled over, coming to rest upside-down in the middle of PCH between Broad Beach and Encinal Canyon roads, Brooks said.
He said the teens admitted they had been drinking at a concert in Hollywood earlier in the evening and at Santa Monica Pier, which they visited before heading home.
There was a large empty bottle of Jagermeister liqueur in the vehicle, Brooks said, along with a marijuana pipe and a medical marijuana container with a blue and white sticker.
The male juvenile in the front seat was treated at the scene and released, Brooks said. The two males in the back seat had broken hips and were taken to UCLA Medical Center. The female seated in the center of the back seat suffered critical head injuries and was airlifted to the same hospital.
The two injured boys are expected to be released within the next three days, he said. It is unknown when the Camarillo teen will be released, officials said.
Brooks, who was at the accident scene, has spent 25 years in law enforcement, devoting much of his time to giving lectures in an attempt to deter teens from driving under the influence, he said.
"We try to teach them and tell them, and tragedies keep happening. We have to keep getting the message out," Brooks said.
Newbury Park High School canceled their "Every 15 Minutes" program that was to be held April 24 and 25 because of sensitivity to the students who are grieving at this time.
The program stages a DUI auto accident to show teens the dangers of drunk driving.
Brooks said he disagrees with the school's decision to cancel the presentation and thinks the program would offer another hard reminder of the dangers of getting behind the wheel while intoxicated.
I know kids who go to Newbury Park, it's just up the hill from where I live. It's tragic, I'm just glad it's no one I know.