A drag race gone awry

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Hermosa Beach resident Grant Ibrahim helped pull two children and their injured mother out of their overturned vehicle after a head-on collision in west Malibu Nov. 27 that may have been caused by drag racing.

By Michael Aushenker / Special to The Malibu Times

Grant Ibrahim and a friend were driving north on Pacific Coast Highway two Sundays ago near Trancas Canyon Road when a terrifying scene unfolded in front of them. A Dodge Viper coming the opposite way drifted into their lane in a burst of speed, colliding head-on with a Nissan Pathfinder in front of them.

“The Viper did a 360 directly in front of us,” Ibrahim, 53, said. “It was really out of control. As soon as he stopped, flames went up. The total back of the car was on fire.”

Ibrahim jumped out and ran to the Viper, where its owner, 30-year-old Russ Matusevich of Northridge, sat immobile.

“When I ran up to the car, I thought he was dead,” Ibrahim said. “He was like a rag doll. He was really disoriented.”

Ibrahim and another motorist helped pull Matusevich out of the burning vehicle. Then they approached the SUV, which had flipped upside down in the crash.

Mariah O’Brien, 30, of Los Angeles was trapped inside with her daughter and son, ages seven and four, respectively. But initially, Ibrahim could not tell who was in the car.

“The air bags were all deployed and I couldn’t see into the windows,” Ibrahim said. “I just saw little cheese puffs inside … That let me know there were kids in the car and that kind of scared me.”

Ibrahim smashed out one window of the car with a rock found by another bystander, and pulled out O’Brien’s daughter. Then he tended to O’Brien, whose legs were badly damaged.

“Mariah was crying that her legs were broken,” Ibrahim said. “She said, ‘What about my son?’” I thought, ‘Oh, my God!’ I ran back and got him out.”

Another bystander comforted the children, who remained calm and were miraculously unharmed.

Meanwhile, Ibrahim ministered to O’Brien, who appeared to have badly broken legs.

“She was obviously in a great deal of pain,” he said. Ibrahim found a child’s booster seat in the back of the vehicle and used it to stabilize O’Brien’s legs. He then went back to check on Matusevich, who seemed to be okay.

When paramedics arrived on the scene, O’Brien was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center. An ambulance rushed Matusevich to UCLA to treat him for chest pain and contusions.

Traffic was blocked on Pacific Coast Highway in both directions for at least one hour. Sgt. Phil Brooks of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station confirmed to The Malibu Times Monday that Matusevich was driving alongside another silver or gray Dodge Viper at the time of the accident. When Matusevich drifted into the opposite lane, Brooks said the Pathfinder “rode up the front of that viper like a ramp. That’s why [the Pathfinder] landed on its ceiling.”

Although Brooks said the Viper appeared to be speeding, he said it was inconclusive whether they were racing.

Ibrahim has no doubt.

“They were racing,” he said.

Ibrahim said he had spoken to O’Brien’s father, who told him she was expected to undergo surgery and would be able to walk again.

Looking back, Ibrahim said heroism was the last thing on his mind when the cars collided.

“I didn’t do a heroic act,” Ibrahim said. “I’m just someone who responded in that situation as anyone should have.”