The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office identified 58-year-old William H. Weissberg as the man killed in the Mercedes-Benz Wednesday when a 16-wheeler truck driven by Hovik Oganes Papikyan lost control on Kanan Dume Road and slammed into his car while he was heading east on Pacific Coast Highway. A sports utility vehicle driven by Los Angeles County Fire department engineer Dave Weiss was also hit and caught fire, and there was fear that it would spark a brush fire at the scene.
Weissberg and Papikyan were killed instantly. Weiss suffered a broken ankle.
The Corner’s Office said Weissberg was a Los Angeles resident. Rob Cucher, who worked with Weissberg, an attorney, said his colleague was a Malibu resident.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and fire officials said Papikyan had lost control of his truck, which was full of gravel, while heading toward Pacific Coast Highway on Kanan about 9:50 a.m. He did not use the emergency lane to try and stop. The truck slammed into the Mercedes as it crossed the light that had just turned green on Pacific Coast Highway, and both vehicles flew into an embankment along with Weiss’ SUV.
Eyewitness Kirk Prouse of Oxnard, who was in a car behind the Mercedes, said, “It all happened so fast… then I saw an explosion … I would’ve been the next person.”
Weiss, who works at Fire Station No. 68 in Calabasas, was on his day off and had been surfing and was heading home. As two Sheriff’s deputies rescued the Weiss from his vehicle, a man from Waste Management Inc., who was driving behind the SUV, got out of his vehicle and extinguished the fire with an extinguisher he had in his truck.
Fire Capt. Bob Goldman of Station 70, who arrived at the scene and is Weiss’ friend, said of the waste management worker, “I am absolutely grateful to him, and to the deputies.”
It is believed Weiss would have died if they did not stop the fire and get him out of the vehicle.
There is a weight limit of 8,000 pounds for trucks on Kanan Dume Road, and truck trailers are not allowed on the road. It is not known if the truck exceeded the weight limit, but it did have a trailer.
There have been many accidents of this type on Kanan Dume. Malibu resident Susan Tellem said a friend of hers died in such an accident.
“It is shameful, that this issue hasn’t been dealt with,” Tellem said. “I see trucks on Kanan Dume all the time, and officials need to be very aggressive about stopping this.”