A Santa Clarita Valley woman sustained life-threatening injuries in a three-car crash that claimed the life of a Ventura woman Monday afternoon near Ojai.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Lucinda Diaz, 26, of Canyon Country, was the passenger in a 2012 Kia Optima driven by Sean Staub, 23, of North Carolina.
At about 5:30 p.m., the Kia was traveling northbound on Highway 33 just south of Old Creek Road south of Ojai when Staub veered left into the southbound lane, directly into the path of a 1997 Toyota Corolla driven by a 59-year-old woman from Ventura.
Following the head-on collision, the Ventura woman was trapped in her car and extracted by Ventura County Fire Department personnel. She was taken by ambulance to the Ventura County Medical Center where she later succumbed to her injuries.
Staub sustained minor injuries but his passenger, Diaz, suffered major head injuries and was also transported to the Ventura County Medical Center.
A third vehicle, a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Herbert Herrera, 35, of Santa Barbara, had been following behind the Ventura woman’s car and was also involved in the collision, but Herrera walked away without injuries, according to the CHP report.
No arrests were made. The crash is still under investigation, and the deceased woman’s name has not been released.
SCV Woman Critically Injured in Ojai Crash