600-foot drop Driver survives





A young Agoura Hills driver plunged 600 feet over the side of Malibu Canyon Road Monday afternoon-and lived.

William Bartnicki, 19, was airlifted to the UCLA Medical Center for back and neck injuries and minor lacerations to his arms and legs, officials said.

The accident occurred about two miles north of Pacific Coast Highway on a winding stretch of the road. Bartnicki was heading north toward Agoura Hills before he veered onto the right shoulder and went down the bottom of the steep ravine.

Earlier reports indicated the young man was talking on a cellphone with his mother as the accident unfolded. According to California Highway Patrol Officer Brian Brian DeNike, the driver said in a later report that he was not talking on the phone at the time of the accident, but was was using his phone prior to the incident.

-Sylvie Belmond


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