CHP COULD CITE TRUCKER IN FATALITY.

Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer

The California Highway Patrol is preparing to file a formal complaint against a Simi Valley trucker suspected of causing a traffic pileup Tuesday on Highway 118 that killed a 25-year-old Camarillo woman, officials said.

William Smith, 44, is under investigation on suspicion of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in connection with the collision that killed Kaiya Ann Myers on a rural stretch of the highway just outside Somis, said Officer Dave Cockrill, a spokesman for the CHP's Ventura County office.

Authorities expect to file a formal complaint against Smith, an independent trucker, in three or four weeks, Cockrill said. ``He is the suspect at this point,'' he said.

Smith could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The crash does not appear to be alcohol-related, Cockrill said. The trucker has not been arrested, and the complaint has not yet been filed with the Ventura County District Attorney's Office because investigators have a backlog of other fatal crashes to deal with, Cockrill said.

``We've got a good ID. We don't think he's a flight risk or anything like that,'' Cockrill said. ``We didn't feel a need to take him into custody.''

Authorities were led to the man through tips from witnesses, one of whom provided a license plate number, Cockrill said.

Myers was driving a white Toyota Tercel east on Highway 118 about 8:25 a.m. when she is believed to have been forced off the road and onto the dirt shoulder by a tractor-trailer, according to authorities. The tractor-trailer appears to have moved from the westbound to eastbound side of the highway, Cockrill said.

The victim's vehicle veered back onto the two-lane highway, spun into oncoming traffic and was hit by a westbound van which was in turn rear-ended by another vehicle, according to authorities.

Two other drivers, Rosa Pascual of Moorpark and Pablo Perez of Simi Valley, were injured in the collision, treated at local hospitals and released.

According to Cockrill, several people contacted the CHP with tips that included vehicle descriptions and, eventually, a license plate number that led authorities to the truck in Santa Paula.

Investigators obtained a search warrant and found the truck at a ``warehouse-type facility,'' Cockrill said. The trucker was not on the premises and authorities impounded the truck, leaving a warrant on a nearby vehicle where the trucker eventually spotted it, Cockrill said.

``Apparently he came to work Wednesday, noticed his truck was missing, found the warrant and decided it would be a good idea to contact us,'' Cockrill said. ``He then came voluntarily to talk to us.''

During the ensuing interview, the trucker ``did indicate that for whatever reason he was forced over to the other lane'' while traveling west on Highway 118, Cockrill said. What caused him to move into the eastbound lane is under investigation, he said.