8 INJURED IN PILEUP ON A.V. FREEWAY.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writer

Eleven cars piled up before dawn Monday on the Antelope Valley Freeway, closing one side of the state route and backing up commuter traffic for seven miles on the other, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The chain-reaction crash in the northbound lanes near San Fernando Road in Newhall left several drivers with injuries, including Artie Nobleza, 25, of Canoga Park, who was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, said Officer Doug Sweeney of the California Highway Patrol in Newhall.

Seven others suffered less serious injuries and were treated at Newhall Memorial and Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, hospital spokeswomen said.

It was Nobleza who inexplicably veered across two lanes of the freeway at 5:25 a.m., hitting the center barrier and setting off the series of collisions, Sweeney said. Investigators noted that Nobleza lost control of his car on a downhill stretch of freeway, coming out of a curve.

David Berls, 37, of Canyon Country was in the fast lane at the end of the curve, saw Nobleza's Honda Prelude, and swerved his Jeep Cherokee, crossing five lanes and landing on the right dirt shoulder, authorities said.

Vernon Miller, 49, of North Hollywood, also traveling in the fast lane, did not see the Honda and hit it, pinning Nobleza inside, Sweeney said.

Chain-reaction crashes ensued, stretching about one-quarter mile, authorities said. One vehicle rolled over on its driver's side and landed on the right shoulder of the road.

All five northbound lanes were closed for about two hours, Sweeney said. Southbound commuters were backed up about seven miles. Two southbound drivers were hit with debris, such as tire tread, from the crashes on the other side of the freeway.