Westlake fatality still under investigation

BAD SCENE-Traffic backs up on the 101 Freeway following last week's fatal accident, one of four in the area in the past two weeks. Police are seeking witnesses to an accident on the 101 Freeway last week that resulted in the death of a motorist. The incident took place at 3:30 p.m. Wed., April 12 south of the Westlake Boulevard exit.

Yuri Aguilera Patrick, 23, of Newbury Park was driving a black Mercedes north on the 101 at about 70 mph, authorities said. For unknown reasons, Patrick lost control of her car, veered across traffic lanes and struck the rear of a red Dodge Ram truck driven by Stuart Ira Seidner, 57, of Thousand Oaks.

The impact made the truck spin and roll on its roof. Seidner suffered massive head trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators want to determine why Patrick lost control of her car. Patrick was neither intoxicated nor under the influence of drugs, according to Sgt. Annie Vaught of the California Highway Patrol.

"Her motion was so sudden that there is the possibility that she may have hit another vehicle," Vaught said.

Witnesses are asked to call (805) 553-0800.

The fatal accident is one of four that have hit the region in the past two weeks.

The first involved four vehicles and the death of a 54-yearold Colorado woman that took place on Thousand Oaks Boulevard just west of Rancho Road on April 3. An investigation is being conducted by Thousand Oaks police to determine if road rage was a factor in the accident.

The other two incidents took place on the 118 Freeway in Simi Valley. The first, on April 10, involved a woman 31 weeks pregnant who lost control of her vehicle while negotiating the curve of the Sycamore onramp. The baby died the following morning.

At 1:53 a.m. on April 15 a man traveling west on the 118 Freeway near the Madera exit lost control of his car for unknown reasons. He collided with the concrete center divider, which caused his vehicle to turn over. The driver, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from the car and pronounced dead at the scene.

--Sophia Fischer