New Details Emerge In Valley Village Crash That Killed 2 Good Samaritans
VALLEY VILLAGE (CBSLA.com) — New details have emerged in the Valley Village crash that killed two Good Samaritans Wednesday evening.
Police confirmed to CBS2 and KCAL9 reporter Amanda Burden that they are treating the accident as a reckless driving case.
A speeding driver failed to negotiate a turn on Laurel Canyon, crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant and then unti a power pole. The cascading water became charged electrocuting two women who tried to save the male motorist. As many as eight other people were hurt, including one of the victim's husband's.
Witnesses told Burden street racing was likely to blame.
Jacqueline Montgomery said, "They were racing. There were two cars." She believed they were going in excess of 70 mph. "They weren't going 35, let me tell you."
Montgomery says she was haunted by what happened next. She watched her neighbor, 39-year-old Stacey Schreiber, run to help the driver of the SUV.
She watched as her neighbor was electrocuted.
Irma Zamora, 40, another eyewitness ran to help. She, too, was electrocuted.
Witness Jerry Glassman was screaming for people to stay back. "I said 'Please, there's a live wire, stay away! ' People were screaming. She put two hands on the woman's leg, shook for 10 seconds and landed and fell right on top of her. And my heart just exploded."
Glassman was also shocked but he is okay. He says he has seen street racing along Magnolia Boulevard many times before. "I'm still shook up. And the worst thing about it is those two innocent women trying to make a difference. They died because of what...because of stupidity?"
As a memorial grows at the crash site, Burden says police are questioning a second driver, a friend of the reckless driving suspect. Police believe the second man was driving behind, or just alongside the SUV driver who crashes.
Tonight, friends and family are grieving the loss of the two women.
Ignasio Castro, a friend of Schrieber's says, "If there is a silver lining in all this, the last act on this Earth for her was heroic and that's pretty much the ways I saw her."
Zamora's son David said his mother died what she did best, helping others. "I know she's in a better place now," he says, "and she's a hero in everyone's hearts."
