Inland Valley

By Tom Krisher | The Associated Press

The death toll from exploding airbag inflators made by Takata Corp. has risen to 19 in the U.S. and 28 worldwide.

Authorities say the driver of a 2006 Ford Ranger pickup truck was killed in what should have been a minor crash last month near Pensacola, Florida. But the driver’s airbag inflator exploded, spewing shrapnel that hit the unidentified driver, a 23-year-old man.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday it is working to confirm details of the crash before deciding if more action is needed.

Takata used ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate airbags in a crash. But the chemical can become more volatile over time when exposed to moisture in the air and repeated high temperatures. The explosion can blow apart a metal canister and hurl shrapnel into the passenger compartment.

Potential for the dangerous malfunction led to the largest series of auto recalls in U.S. history, with at least 67 million inflators recalled. The U.S. government says that millions have not been repaired. About 100 million inflators have been recalled worldwide.

Most of the deaths have been in the U.S., but they also have occurred in Australia and Malaysia.

According to a Florida Highway Patrol report, the crash happened just before 6 p.m. on July 7 when a white sedan failed to yield and pulled out in front of the gray pickup truck. “The driver of the Ford pickup truck died as a result of his injuries,” the report said.

A Florida Highway Patrol trooper later filed a complaint with NHTSA, saying that the driver suffered fatal injuries “due to the driver’s side air bag deployment.” The complaint said the driver was pronounced dead at the scene after a minor traffic crash.

In January of 2016, Ford recalled about 391,000 Rangers in the U.S. and Canada from the 2004 to 2006 model years to replace the driver’s inflators. Before the Florida crash, two drivers had been killed.

The Ranger in the Florida crash had been recalled and that notices were sent out, according to Ford spokesman Said Deep, but repairs were not done. The company said it sent a representative to the owner’s home in an effort to schedule recall repairs. Ford is urging all

Ranger owners to get recall repairs done due to the safety risk, Deep said.

The last death caused by a Takata airbag occurred in a BMW in September of 2020 in Arizona. Many of the deaths have occurred in older Honda vehicles.

NHTSA said vehicle owners should go to the agency’s website and key in their 17-digit vehicle identification number to see if there are any open recalls. The agency says people should get the free recall repairs done as soon as possible.

The recalls drove Japan’s Takata into bankruptcy and criminal charges were brought against the company. Eventually, it was purchased by a Chinese-owned auto parts supplier.

AP Writer Freida Frisaro contributed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The 23-year-old strides across the studio floor, each step a deliberate, thoughtful, remarkable placement of footing on the laminate tile.

The farther Alexis Evans can walk, and the less help she needs doing it, the more miraculous the feat.

Seven months after a car crash that could have ended her life, the Yorba Linda resident is living, talking, and walking. She’s smiling, fist-bumping, and practicing using chopsticks.

The injury she suffered is as serious as it sounds: atlanto-occipital dislocation, also known as internal decapitation. In a rear-end crash along the 91 Freeway in December, Alexis’ cervical spinal cord was injured, causing paralysis that doctors initially believed would inhibit her from talking or moving much beyond her eyes.

That she survived at all was a rarity, said Dr. David Patterson, the rehabilitation and medical director at Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare in Pomona, where Alexis goes five days a week for outpatient therapy. People who experience the same injury usually do not make it to the hospital, he said. Those who do survive are typically quadriplegic.

There were moments shortly after the crash when “I think they weren’t sure whether she would even survive it,” said Dr. Suranee Waleszonia, one of Alexis’ neuropsychologists, during a recent physical therapy session. “But she’s done remarkably well.”

Four days before Christmas, Alexis was driving to her job as a file clerk at a law office in Santa Ana when she was rear-ended as she slowed for traffic on the westbound 91 near Imperial Highway, according to a crash report from the California Highway Patrol.

Video of the crash captured on another car’s camera at the scene showed the brake lights on the Jeep that hit Alexis did not illuminate before colliding with her bumper, the report, provided to the Orange County Register by Kathy Evans, Alexis’ mom, said.

At the scene, the driver of the Jeep told a CHP trooper he was going about 65 mph; he said he pressed on the brakes but the car didn’t slow, according to the report.

The trooper tested the car later, writing that the brakes “appeared to be working properly.”

Several bystanders pulled Alexis from her 2012 red Ford Fiesta, the report said. Hospital staff at Orange County Global Medical Center, where Alexis was first taken after the crash, told Kathy Evans that a nurse at the scene began performing CPR until paramedics arrived.

That a nurse was there and helped was a “miracle,” Waleszonia said. “She wouldn’t have probably made it if not for that.”

People who experience a spinal cord injury like Alexis’ — which disrupts the nerves sending signals from the brain to the rest of the body — typically suffer respiratory failure “because there’s no message getting to your diaphragm to tell you to breathe,” Patterson explained.

Read more: Jon Wilhite survived crash that killed Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two friends

After the crash, Alexis had surgery to reattach her spinal column to her skull, Kathy Evans said. Another procedure inserted a tracheostomy tube so she could breathe.

Initial fears were that she would suffer a condition called “locked-in syndrome,” in which she would have normal cognitive function but be unable to physically move beyond her eyes, Patterson said. She could not breathe on her own and was taught how to signal “yes” and “no” with just her eyes.

But during sensory exams after she was transferred to Casa Colina’s hospital, Alexis was repeatedly signaling that she could feel below her injured neck, Patterson said.

That she’s come this far, “it’s nothing short of a miracle, to be frank,” he said.

“Usually, you don’t even survive and make it to the hospital with this type of injury. If you survive, usually you’re severely quadriplegic and you’re very disabled,” Patterson said, noting that those who survive usually rely on assisted breathing machines.

“So here she is with tubes out, moving her legs, standing. That’s kind of crazy,” he said. “It’s just incredible.”

The recovery process has been painstaking at times for Alexis, who grew up an athlete, playing softball in high school and in a travel league. She had been studying for the LSAT at the time of the crash with the hope of going to law school. A UC Berkeley graduate, Alexis had studied political science.

While she was in the hospital, her determination to get better went “up and down,” Alexis said. “Sometimes I wanted to give up.”

But in those moments, it was her family support that kept her going, she said: “They never give up on me.”

Alexis said she and her family have reached out for encouragement from other survivors of the same injury. One of them was former Cal State Fullerton baseball player Jon Wilhite. The lone survivor in a car carrying Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two other friends during a 2009 crash, Wilhite was believed to be the first Orange County resident to live after suffering internal decapitation.

His recovery was seen as a medical miracle, too. Less than a year after his injury, Wilhite was back to gym workouts and moving into the Manhattan Beach apartment he shared with his brother.

Over the past 13 years, several people who have suffered similar neck injuries have reached out to Wilhite, and he’s shared his story. He acknowledges that his case was an “extremely, extremely lucky one” because while his vertebrae separated from his skull, “luckily my spinal cord stayed intact,” the 37-year-old said in an interview this week.

“But I just kind of realize that hopefully just them seeing me or hearing my story gives them a little hope,” Wilhite said.

The message Alexis has taken away from Wilhite and others who have been through what she has is just, simply, “don’t give up,” she said.

Dreaming of her future and “the thought of getting back close to where I was” keeps her pushing forward. She hopes to eventually study international law and become an attorney who negotiates international peace treaties, she said.

Meanwhile, Patterson said he encouraged Alexis and her family to explore the possibility of stem cell therapy that can be used to address spinal cord injuries. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help raise money for the treatment, which Patterson said can cost upward of $50,000.

As of Thursday morning, supporters had donated more than $33,000 to the fundraiser.

During a physical therapy session in July, Alexis trekked back and forth across the room at the clinic in Casa Colina’s Transitional Living Center. It was the first time in her six weeks of physical therapy that she’s done the walk with the help of just one physical therapist, who positioned herself underneath Alexis’ right shoulder for stability and help with her gait.

While she walked, a machine attached to a track on the ceiling and strapped to Alexis’ torso held up 30% of her body weight while she moved the rest.

“It’s all hard,” she said of the hours of rehab she’s putting in each day. “But it’s good.”

By Melanie Zanona and Clare Foran | CNN

Indiana Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski has died in a car accident that also killed two of Walorski’s staffers, House Republican leaders announced Wednesday.

“I am devastated and saddened to learn about the tragic passing of my dear friend Jackie Walorksi and two of her staffers,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise announced in a statement.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced Walorski’s death, sharing a statement from the family.

“Dean Swihart, Jackie’s husband, was just informed by Elkhart County Sheriff’s office that Jackie was killed in a car accident this afternoon. She has returned home to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers. We will have no further comment at this time,” read a message from the congresswoman’s office that McCarthy tweeted.

The Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office said they were called to the scene of a two-vehicle crash shortly after noon. Police said a car traveled left of the center lane and collided head-on with an SUV Walorski was riding in, killing Walorski, 58, and two others in the vehicle.

Also killed in the crash were Zachery Potts, 27, of Mishawaka, Indiana; Emma Thomson, 28, of Washington, D.C.; and Edith Schmucker, 56, of Nappanee, Indiana, according to the sheriff’s office.

Tim Cummings, Walorski’s chief of staff, confirmed that Potts and Thomson were members of Walorski’s congressional staff. Thomson was Walorski’s communications director, while Potts was her district director and the Republican chairman for northern Indiana’s St. Joseph County.

Schmucker was driving the other car, according to the sheriff’s office. The crash, which occurred in a rural area near the town of Wakarusa, is still under investigation.

Walorski was seeking reelection this year to a sixth term in the solidly Republican district.

She was active on agriculture and food policy in Congress, often working across the aisle on those issues. A co-chair of the House Hunger Caucus, she introduced legislation with Democrats to bring back a Nixon-era White House event on food insecurity.

President Joe Biden pointed to that work in a statement crediting Walorski for years of public service.

“We may have represented different parties and disagreed on many issues, but she was respected by members of both parties for her work,” Biden said. “My team and I appreciated her partnership as we plan for a historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health this fall that will be marked by her deep care for the needs of rural America.”

Indiana Republican U.S. Sen. Todd Young said he was “devastated” by Walorski’s death.

“Jackie loved Hoosiers and devoted her life to fighting for them,” Young said in a statement. “I’ll never forget her spirit, her positive attitude, and most importantly her friendship. All of Indiana mourns her passing, along with the tragic deaths of her staff Emma Thomson and Zach Potts. Please join me in praying for their families in this difficult time.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered flags at the Capitol to be flown at half-staff in response to the death of the congresswoman, Pelosi deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill announced Wednesday afternoon.

The White House said its flags would be lowered Wednesday and Thursday, and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb issued a similar flag directive for the state.

News of Walorski’s death and the death of two of her staffers came as a major shock on Capitol Hill and immediately sparked an outpouring of grief and remembrances from lawmakers and aides who paid tribute to their lives and careers.

The congresswoman was viewed inside the House Republican conference as someone who could one day ascend to the ranks of GOP leadership, and her name had been batted around for the position of conference chairwoman in the past. She had been a member of the House GOP’s deputy whip team.

Walorski, who was 58, represented Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District and had previously served as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives. She began serving in Congress in 2013.

The congresswoman served as the top Republican on the House Ethics Committee, a spot that put her in line to become chair of the panel if the GOP retakes the House majority in the upcoming midterm elections. She also served as the ranking GOP member for a subcommittee of the powerful House Ways and Means committee.

GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming tweeted in reaction to the news, “There was no more dedicated or effective member of Congress than Jackie,” adding, “I was proud to be her friend.”

Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire said she and Walorski bonded as newly elected members of Congress in late 2012 over their husbands’ shared love of jazz music and became friends.

“I was proud to work with her on a variety of critical issues, including legislation to address the addiction crisis, end sexual violence, and help military sexual assault survivors access the care they need,” Kuster said.

Walorski, was born in South Bend and lived near Elkhart, Indiana. She and her husband were previously missionaries in Romania, where they established a foundation that provided food and medical supplies to impoverished children. She worked as a television news reporter in South Bend before her turn to politics.

Associated Press contributed to this story.

The husband of U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi pleaded not guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence related to a May car crash in Napa County.

Paul Pelosi, 82, did not appear in person Wednesday at Napa County Superior Court. His attorney Amanda Bevins entered not guilty pleas for him on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury and driving with a 0.08% blood alcohol level or higher causing injury.

California law allows for DUI misdemeanor defendants to appear through their attorney unless ordered otherwise by the court.

Pelosi was arrested following a May 28 crash near Yountville after a DUI test showed he had a blood alcohol content level of 0.082%. The blood sample was taken about two hours after the collision, the Napa County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

Pelosi’s 2021 Porsche collided in an intersection with a 2014 Jeep at 10:17 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.

Prosecutors filed the case as a misdemeanor because of the injuries sustained by the 48-year-old driver of the Jeep. They have not described the injuries or provided more information about the other driver, saying the person has requested privacy.

Pelosi was released on $5,000 bail after his arrest.

If convicted, he faces five days in jail and up to five years of probation. He would also be required to complete a drinking driver class and install an ignition interlock device in his vehicle — a breathalyzer that requires the driver to blow into it before operating the vehicle, prosecutors said.

Pelosi has been married to the powerful Democratic speaker since 1963. She is traveling in Asia this week.

An accused street racer whose alcohol-fueled crash killed an Orange County Register editor two years ago was convicted Tuesday of murder.

An Orange County Superior Court jury deliberated for a little less than an hour before finding Louie Robert Villa, 31, guilty of second-degree murder, as well as several DUI-related charges.

The jury was unable to reach a consensus on whether he was street racing at the time, leading the judge to declare a mistrial on that charge.

Villa at 11:40 a.m. on July 30, 2020 was accused of racing another driver northbound on Bristol Street at nearly twice the speed limit with a blood-alcohol level double to triple the legal limit when he broadsided a pickup truck driven by Gene Harbrecht, 67, that was turning left from southbound Bristol to eastbound Santa Clara Avenue, Deputy District Attorney Brian Orue told jurors during his closing arguments in a Santa Ana courtroom.

Several bystanders helped pull Harbrecht from his burning vehicle before he was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center, where he died.

Harbrecht was a longtime editor of the Orange County Register, who at the time of his death was serving as the national and international editor for the greater Southern California News Group. After Harbrecht’s death, his colleagues and friends remembered him as a “newsman to his core.”

The driver of the vehicle Villa was accused of racing — Ricardo Navarro Tolento — is facing vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run charges, but is expected to be tried separately at a later date. Dashboard video recorded by another motorist and shown during Villa’s trial showed the two vehicles speeding off as soon as a traffic light at Bristol and 17th Street turned green, quickly outpacing surrounding traffic until the fatal collision.

An earlier DUI conviction resulted in Villa in 2012 receiving a formal warning — known as a Watson Advisement — that if he drove drunk again and killed someone he could be charged with murder. As a result, prosecutors in 2020 charged him with second-degree murder — rather than a lesser charge of vehicular manslaughter — under an “implied malice” legal theory that he knew driving drunk was dangerous to human life but chose to do it anyway.

“It is his conduct that day – drinking alcohol, getting behind the wheel of a car, deciding to race with another car, going way too fast and doing his own ‘Fast and Furious’ on the roads of Santa Ana, coming to an intersection and broadsiding another vehicle – are you surprised when you put all those things together that someone was killed?” Orue asked jurors during his closing arguments.

Villa’s attorney, Stacy Kelly, acknowledged that Villa had been drinking and was likely speeding. But the defense attorney denied that Villa was racing another driver or that he was aware of the danger of his actions.

“Mr. Villa was wrong, he was wrong to drink, he was wrong to drive,” Kelly told jurors. “But this does not equate to murder.”

Kelly said Villa tried to avoid a collision with Tolento’s car, that his view was blocked by another vehicle and that he tried to brake when he saw Harbrecht’s pickup. That, the defense attorney said, showed Villa was not acting with “reckless disregard” for others as the prosecution had argued.

“The recognition of what is about to happen, the attempt to stop, that is recognition of regard for human life,” Kelly said. “(To find him guilty of murder) you would have to believe Mr. Villa had a cold heart, that he was callous, that he drove that day not caring if he hurt or killed someone.”

“It is just as reasonable to believe that Mr. Villa made a mistake,” the defense attorney added.

The prosecutor countered that he saw no evidence Villa was trying to avoid an accident with Tolento’s car, and pointed to Villa’s previous warnings about the dangers of drunk driving, which also included attending a Mother’s Against Drunk Driving meeting.

“When you get behind the wheel of a vehicle and drive very fast for almost half a mile and run into someone and kill them, that is not an accident,” Orue said. “Furthermore, when you are warned of the risks associated with such conduct, that is no longer an accident – it is a choice.”

In the end, the jury hung 10-2 in favor of a street racing conviction, according to prosecutors.

Villa is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on Oct. 7. He faces 15 years to life in prison.

Harbrecht’s death — as well as another fatal collision that took place the same month in which Santa Ana resident Cirilo Adan was struck by a suspected street racer while crossing a street — led to conversations among Santa Ana city leaders about potential crackdowns on street racing. That included Santa Ana officials considering, then rejecting, a proposed ordinance that would have made it illegal to be a spectator at street races.

An off-duty Riverside police sergeant was killed in a crash on his personal motorcycle in Nuevo Monday night, Aug. 2, authorities said.

The collision involving Sgt. Matt Lewis, 45, occurred about 7:15 p.m. near Pico Avenue and Santa Rosa Road, Riverside police said Tuesday morning.

He was a 25-year veteran of the force.

“Matt was a family man who loved his four children and one grandchild dearly,” Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez posted online. “We hurt right now over this loss and ask our community to join us as we mourn Sergeant Lewis and support his grieving family in this immense time of need.”

See more

A MESSAGE FROM CHIEF GONZALEZ https://t.co/6hVTcCKC9h

— City of Riverside Police Department (@RiversidePolice) August 2, 2022

Lewis was riding his motorcycle northbound on Pico Avenue when the driver of a GMC truck towing a flatbed trailer going the opposite direction failed to yield and attempted to turn left from southbound Pico to eastbound Santa Rosa Road, CHP spokesman Officer Keith Ballantyne said.

The motorcyclist crashed into the side of the truck, causing fatal injuries, Ballantyne said.

The intersection appeared to have stop signs for drivers along Santa Rosa Road, but not for those going north or south on Pico Avenue.

Dozens of officers on motorcycles and in squad cars escorted the fallen officer from the scene to the Riverside County coroner’s office overnight.

Lewis started as a cadet and worked as an officer, a detective and a sergeant in the department, Gonzalez said.

“He was well-liked and admired, not only by those he worked alongside with at our department, but throughout the law enforcement community,” Gonzalez wrote.

A speeding Jeep Cherokee slammed into the back of a Kia SUV stopped at a red light in Rialto on Monday evening, Aug. 1, killing the Jeep’s driver and a woman and an 8-year-old girl in the other car in a crash that involved seven vehicles, authorities said.

See more

#BREAKING 3 killed, 2 injured in violent, fiery collision involving 7 vehicles at Rialto intersectionhttps://t.co/A6vEX2VE5Q

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) August 2, 2022

The man driving the Jeep Cherokee had been speeding along Valley Boulevard at Riverside Avenue, Rialto police Cpl. Nic Parcher said.

The Kia Sorento burst into flames, Parcher said, and several bystanders tried to help officers extinguish the flames but could not.

The occupants of the Kia who died were identified as the driver, 33-year-old Ashley Gilroy, and 8-year-old Marlee Maldonado, both residents of Highland.

The Jeep driver who died was identified Wednesday as Paul Larios, 35, San Bernardino.

 

Witnesses told investigators the Jeep’s driver was headed eastbound on Valley when he sideswiped a pickup truck near Willow Avenue, police said. He continued on, speeding and swerving, before slamming into the Kia while it was stopped at a red light at the intersection just before 6:30 p.m.

The momentum pushed the Kia into the back of a Honda, police said, and ultimately four other vehicles were tangled up as well, police said.

The Honda caught fire — it was unclear how many occupants were in it and how badly they were hurt.

Two other people were taken to local hospitals with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

A Riverside man was injured and his son was killed Monday, Aug. 1, after he tried to avoid a big rig that lost a tire then lost control of his pickup truck, which rolled over twice on the 215 Freeway in Menifee.

The coroner has not publicly identified the son, described by the California Highway Patrol as a 22-year-old Riverside resident.

The crash occurred shortly before 6 a.m. on the southbound 215, just north of McCall Boulevard.

A big rig hauling large round pipes was on the No. 2 traveling about 55 mph when the front left tire had a blowout, CHP Officer Mike Lassig said. Authorities are investigating what caused the blowout but don’t suspect any foul play, he added.

The truck pulled left and the driver was not able to maintain it straight, he said. It started to enter the fast lane.

A Toyota T100 pickup truck on the fast lane was approaching the big rig. The driver saw what happened and tried to steer clear of the big rig, according to Lassig.

“He tried to take evasive action and steered into the center median,” Lassig said.

The driver lost control of the pickup which rolled over about twice before ending up on the No. 3 southbound lane, he said.

The pickup’s driver, a 46-year-old Riverside man, was taken to Inland Valley Medical Center with minor injuries. His son, who was sitting in the passenger seat, died at the scene, Lassig said.

The 45-year-old San Jacinto man driving the big rig wasn’t injured.

The CHP closed the southbound lanes for about two hours to clear debris. Drivers were allowed to pass on the freeway right shoulder, Lassig said.

BANNING — The Riverside County coroner’s office has identified two men who were killed in a two-vehicle crash in Banning that also seriously injured two others.

Christopher Saldana, 24, of Banning and James Darnell, 75, of Cabazon died in a collision that was reported at about 8:35 p.m. Friday.

The wreck occurred near the Ramsey Street on-ramp to the 10 Freeway and Banning Municipal Airport, according to the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.

Firefighters freed the victims using hydraulic tools, but Saldana and Darnell were pronounced dead at the scene.

Two others were taken to a hospital with serious injuries, fire officials said.

The cause of the crash was under investigation.