Truck driver arrested in deadly LA-area crash

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. (AP) — The driver of a runaway truck that killed two people and injured a dozen when it plowed through a foothill intersection and into a bookstore had taken a mountain route on which big-rigs are banned, authorities said Thursday.

Marcos Costa was arrested late Wednesday for investigation of gross vehicular manslaughter and felony reckless driving. Costa, 43, was treated for minor injuries and remained jailed Thursday on $200,000 bail. Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies did not know if he had hired an attorney.

The truck, which was hauling cars, had come over the San Gabriel Mountains on Angeles Forest Highway, a narrow, steep, winding state road that is used as a shortcut by commuters from high desert cities north of Los Angeles.

Angeles Forest rises to an elevation of more than 4,900 feet before it joins Angeles Crest Highway, and then descends steeply through La Canada Flintridge to shop-lined Foothill Boulevard in the Los Angeles suburb of about 21,000.

Signs are posted on the Angeles Forest Highway section banning semi-tractor trailers, although they are permitted on the wider Angeles Crest Highway, sheriff’s Sgt. John Caffrey said.

The driver had come over the mountains from the Palmdale area of the desert, which has the signs, he said.

Caffrey said he did not know specifically whether Costa was arrested for investigation of reckless driving because he drove that stretch of road. However, reckless driving can include “wanton disregard for public safety,” the sergeant said.

Caffrey said he could not confirm news reports that the driver was following directions from a GPS unit that did not indicate big trucks were prohibited on the roadway.

The crash occurred shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday during the rush hour when the truck came down the highway out of control, and the driver could not make a sharp turn at the Foothill Boulevard intersection, Los Angeles County fire Capt. Mike Brown said.

Sandi Susersky, 41, a hairstylist at a salon two doors down from the bookstore, said she smelled the truck’s burning brakes.

The truck hit five cars and plowed into the Flintridge Bookstore and Coffeehouse, where an employee was hit by a piece of wood and received minor injuries. The truck also damaged an adjoining wine store and nail salon.

The accident killed 12-year-old Angelina Posca and her father, Angel Jorge Posca, 58, of Palmdale. Their red Ford sedan was pushed through the intersection by the truck and crushed.

A dozen other people were hurt, three critically. There was no immediate word on their conditions Thursday.

The owner of the bookstore, Peter Wannier, said large trucks should be banned from the Angeles Crest Highway.

“There’s simply too long of a dead, straight stretch coming through La Canada,” he told KTLA-TV. “A truck, if they lose their brakes, can’t go to the east, can’t go to the west because there are houses on all sides and all they can do is get down to the bottom to the busiest intersection in town.”

City officials said they have complained repeatedly about the intersection to the state Department of Transportation since September, when a semi-truck hauling tons of onions plowed through a parking lot, destroying seven vehicles and injuring one person, City Manager Mark Alexander said. That runaway truck managed to veer down a driveway and miss buildings.

In a letter sent to the state after that crash, the city requested that the California Department of Transportation prohibit trucks on parts of the Angeles Crest Highway, post signs in the area to warn trucks about the steep grades and install an escape lane uphill from the intersection. Highway and city officials disagreed about where to put the escape lane.

Caltrans scheduled a press conference Thursday in Los Angeles to address the issue.

Caltrans has stonewalled the issue, Mayor Laura Olhasso contended Thursday.

“We have been in constant contact with them … and there has been no action,” she told KNX-AM radio.

“They are still studying. In the meantime, we have had this tragic occurrence in our community, and Caltrans has done nothing to correct the problem,” Olhasso told KTLA-TV.

The mayor said the city will be talking to state lawmakers about requiring Caltrans to take action and also intends to talk to a state congressman about sponsoring legislation that would force GPS companies to mark routes that are unsafe for trucks.

“This is all Caltrans’ fault,” said Mike Totta, who owns the building in which the bookstore and five other businesses were located. “It’s fallen upon deaf ears. It’s unfortunate people have to lose lives before they take it seriously.”