Accidents on Pacific Coast Highway escalate over the weekend- including an apparent hit-and-run fatality, a crash involving the Malibu mayor’s son, another accident on Malibu Canyon Road and a landslide near Trancas snarls traffic for miles.
By Cortney Litwin/Staff Writer
A tragic series of events, ending with one fatality and another with serious injuries to Malibu Mayor Jeff Jennings’ son, began this past weekend with an accident on Pacific Coast Highway near Topanga Canyon Road.
At 8:45 p.m. Saturday, an “extremely high-pressure” fire hydrant was hit during an accident that involved a motorcycle, a passenger car and an SUV in front of the Chart House Restaurant.
Just after the resulting colossal traffic jam cleared on the highway early Sunday morning, Malibu resident Arthur King Zimmerman, 68, was killed while crossing PCH in front of the Topanga Ranch Market.
Zimmerman, an artist who lived in Topanga Canyon, had reportedly first crossed PCH to inquire about the highway closure that had backed up traffic all the way to Santa Monica for several hours, before the correct key could be located to turn off the hydrant.
Zimmerman “went up to one of the officers and wanted to know what was going on,” said CHP officer Leland Tang. “He got to the other side safely. After that, [the officers] didn’t see him.”
Zimmerman apparently crossed the street a second time at about 2 a.m. and was struck and killed.
Phil Ganz of Malibu was driving on PCH at 2 a.m. with four passengers when they came across a shocking sight.
“I saw this guy dragging a body by its limbs,” Ganz said. “There was a lot of fresh blood on the pavement.”
Ganz pulled over to help and called 911. He said there was a woman there, too, whom he described as very traumatized.
According to officer Tang, the two good Samaritans had found Zimmerman’s body on the highway and had pulled it out of the way of oncoming traffic. Unfortunately, they hadn’t witnessed the accident and there are no suspects to the apparent hit-and-run as of Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Mayor Jennings’ 17-year-old son, Austin Jennings, was stuck in the traffic closure. He had been visiting a school friend in Topanga Canyon and had apparently decided to backtrack up Topanga to the 101 Freeway and over Kanan Dume Road to PCH, according to his father.
He was traveling northbound on PCH toward home between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. and allegedly fell asleep at the wheel of his Chevy Tahoe and crashed into a traffic signal pole at Heathercliff Road. The crash shoved the engine partially into the passenger compartment, fracturing Jennings’ leg in three places. Emergency personnel worked for an hour to extricate him from his car.
“He was very lucky,” said Mayor Jennings. “He’s doing well. The crash was so terrible-looking, there were rumors that the accident was a lot worse.”
The teen also suffered a broken nose, a dislocated hip and a possible facial fracture above his jaw. He was taken to UCLA Medical Center, where he is expected to make a full recovery following and be home in a few days.
The support of friends and family helps.
“He’s got a roomful of kids [at the hospital],” said his father.
This accident resulted in another highway closure. The traffic signal Jennings hit fell across two lanes of PCH, prompting the Sheriff’s Department to close down the highway to one lane in each direction until the pole could be cleared away.
In yet another accident, at about the same time as Jennings’ crash, Michael Tucker of Malibu, 20, was driving his Nissan Xterra on Malibu Canyon Road at 4 a.m. Just south of the tunnel, he lost control of his car and flipped over.
Tucker sustained “moderate injuries,” said Tang, and was also transported to UCLA Medical Center.
Further chaos on PCH occurred Sunday at mid-morning because of a landslide just north of Trancas Canyon. The slippage took out the No. 2 lane, causing a traffic snarl for miles.
Sheriff’s Detective Hugh Wahler summed up the weekend’s events with the understatement, “It was a bad weekend for the highway.”