CHP SLEUTHS TARGET CRASH PUZZLES.

Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer

For nearly three months, a special team of investigators has studied every detail of an April 8 crash in Agua Dulce that left five young people dead.

The Fatal Accident Investigation Team from the California Highway Patrol's Newhall office has painstakingly reconstructed the tragedy to figure out what went wrong for the five who were traveling to a spring break outing. A report is being prepared.

``The scene tells us a great deal,'' said Newhall CHP Capt. Pete Mader. ``We can pretty much have a handle on a scene a couple of minutes after we roll up.''

The team's two sergeants and 11 officers each have a specific expertise in re-creating the scene of a crash.

Depending on the seriousness of the crash, team leaders decide how many members to send out.

Officers arriving at the scene are met with a variety of clues that begin telling the story of what happened.

In such major crashes, the CHP's Los Angeles County Multi-Disciplinary Accident Investigation Team, the big brother to FAIT, responds.

Team leader Sgt. Kerri Hawkins said when the team of six arrives to a scene, members conduct a walk-through and photograph evidence, including skid marks, vehicle debris, and the points where the individuals involved and the vehicles come to rest. The evidence is later drawn on a diagram.

MAIT may respond to serious injuries involving on-duty CHP officers or Caltrans workers, collisions involving four or more fatalities, or incidents involving hazardous materials that may pose a threat to life or property.

MAIT is nearing completion of its investigation of the five-victim crash in Agua Dulce, with a final report that could be as long as 600 pages.

Mader said because there have been 10 fatalities on the Antelope Valley Freeway this year, there have been increased patrols on the route to curtail aggressive drivers who speed, make unsafe lane changes and tailgate.

On May 25, two people died in a crash on the same freeway. The victims were traveling in a Bantek West armored car that also went over the side, south of Escondido Canyon Road.

Investigators believe fatigue may have been involved when driver Kenneth Diekman, 56, and his passenger Todd West, 29, went over the side of the freeway and died.

The team's investigation was conducted like a homicide probe.

When investigators arrived on scene, each had a different duty, including guarding the van, which carried about $200,000. Other investigators formed a line from the beginning of the incident to the end. The evidence obtained was measured relative to that line.

The points where the two men landed and where the vehicle finally stopped were printed on a diagram to give a more complete depiction of what occurred.

Team members had no witnesses to question, but profiled the two dead men to see how they had spent their final 24 hours, and if those actions offered any clues.

``We want to determine if fatigue, family matters or a medical problem made a difference in their concentration,'' said Sgt. Larry Wilson, a FAIT supervisor.

They examined their work logs and other records, Wilson said.

Wilson recalled a case in the early 1990s involving a driver who was believed to be drunk as he headed north on the Golden State Freeway. Investigators initially thought he passed out at the wheel, crossed over a guardrail and hit a dentist heading home to Santa Clarita from Bakersfield. The crash killed both men.

It was later determined that the southbound driver went into a diabetic coma.

``We learned that the other driver (the dentist) was driving at a high rate of speed and may have been reading,'' Wilson said. ``When you get information from all sides and put it together, you get a picture.''

Both Mader and Wilson cautioned drivers to be aware of their surroundings and obey the traffic laws. Officers who inform family members that loved ones have died in a crash know that the alternative to driving safely can be deadly.

``As soon as you knock on the door, the family already knows something is wrong,'' Mader said. ``It's devastating to them.''

CAPTION(S):

Photo

PHOTO Officials remove the body of one of five people killed in an Agua Dulce crash in this April photograph.

Hans Gutknecht/Daily News