UPDATED: Driver arrested after fatal crash off Santa Susana Pass Road

Staff reports
·2 min read
This file photo shows a shield on the uniform of a California Highway Patrol officer at the state Capitol in Sacramento.
This file photo shows a shield on the uniform of a California Highway Patrol officer at the state Capitol in Sacramento.

A passenger died and the driver was arrested after a car went off Santa Susana Pass Road Sunday night east of Simi Valley.

The victim was a 23-year-old Simi Valley man, California Highway Patrol officials said Monday. His name was not immediately released pending notification of family.

The accident was reported around 6:30 p.m. Sunday east of Box Canyon Road, according to the CHP's Moorpark-area office. The area is in hilly terrain near the east edge of Ventura County.

A Simi Valley man, 38, was driving a maroon 2018 Chevrolet Corvette eastbound on Santa Susana Road. The passenger was in the front seat.

For unknown reasons, the Corvette went off the road and down an embankment, coming to rest about 150 to 200 feet north of the road, officials said Monday.

Firefighters at the scene had said at least one person was trapped inside the car, according to radio traffic. Crews initially described treating two people with major injuries, but by 7:10 p.m., one of the patients had died.

Helicopters from Ventura County and Los Angeles agencies responded for a possible hoist rescue. Ventura County Sheriff's personnel also responded.

A helicopter from the Los Angeles Fire Department ultimately flew the driver to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Los Angeles. He suffered major injuries, CHP officials said.

The incident shut Santa Susana Pass Road for about 5⅟₂ hours between Box Canyon and Rocky Peak roads.

The driver was arrested on suspicion of DUI, the CHP said Monday, and was released to the hospital for treatment. The Star generally does not name suspects until they have been formally charged by the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Any witnesses who haven't already provided statements are asked to call the CHP's Moorpark office at 805-553-0800.

Sunday's crash marked the third deadly incident in Ventura County on Christmas Day.

At least one person died after a fire in an Oxnard granny flat reported around 3 a.m. Three others — a mother and two children — were taken to hospitals in critical condition.

At about 3:45 a.m., a male driver died in a fiery crash when his pickup truck went off the road and hit a tree along the onramp from Wells Road to eastbound Highway 126 in Ventura.

This story may be updated.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: 1 dead, driver arrested after car goes off Santa Susana Pass Road