COUNTY'S HOLIDAY TRAFFIC TOLL HITS 12 : NUMBERS ARE WAY UP FROM LAST YEAR.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Holiday traffic fatalities in Los Angeles County mounted Sunday with a crash that claimed two lives in Santa Clarita, a suspected drunk-driving fatality in North Hollywood and the death of an elderly motorist in Glendale.

The deaths brought to at least 12 the number of motorists killed in the county since Friday evening, authorities said.

In the first 36 hours of the holiday weekend, nine people died in county traffic accidents, compared to none last year during the same period - 6 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Sunday - according to California Highway Patrol Officer Garry Goldenberg.

The statewide toll of 33 traffic deaths also was significantly higher than last year, when 22 people died in accidents during the first 1-1/2 days of the holiday weekend.

In Sunday's double fatality, a southbound Pontiac Firebird crossed the dirt median of the Antelope Valley Freeway near Placerita Canyon Road at 11 a.m. and collided with a northbound Toyota Tercel, said Sgt. Rick Sirovy of the CHP's Newhall station.

A 67-year-old Palmdale woman and a 30-year-old Altadena woman were killed. The older woman, driving the Firebird, and the younger woman, driving the Tercel, were thrown onto the road, where one was hit by a northbound pickup truck.

The truck veered off the freeway and overturned several times, injuring driver Gregory Michael Clobes, 23, and passenger Jeffrey Covert, 25, both of Ventura, Sirovy said.

The men were treated at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital for moderate injuries.

The accident backed up traffic on northbound freeway lanes for about 3-1/2 hours, Goldenberg said.

In the 2:15 a.m. fatality on the 7700 block of Whitsett Avenue in North Hollywood, a drunk-driving suspect was arrested on suspicion of murder after a passenger was killed when the pickup truck he was driving crashed into a parked van.

Los Angeles County Coroner's Capt. Dean Gilmour identified the victim as Maria Rivera Herrera, 43, of Mexico.

Jose Luis Chavez Torres, 24, of Pacoima, was in the jail ward of Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center, under treatment for chest trauma and cuts, said Sgt. Glenn Wiggins of the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division.

Wiggins said Torres had a previous conviction for reckless driving due to alcohol intoxication.

At 3 p.m. Sunday, an elderly driver who may have been stricken ill crashed into a bus bench in Glendale.

The 85-year-old woman died at Verdugo Hills Hospital shortly after the crash in the 2400 block of Honolulu Avenue, said Sgt. Richard Navarro of the Glendale Police Department.

At 10 p.m. Saturday, a driver was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter after a crash that left an Agoura Hills woman dead.

Johanna Tereasa Piccirelli, 56, was thrown from her car and died on the westbound Ventura Freeway between Winnetka and De Soto avenues in Woodland Hills, said Sgt. Jim Kennedy of the CHP's West Valley station.

Bruce Lee Malonson, 40, of Thousand Oaks was held in lieu of $25,000 bail at the LAPD's Van Nuys station jail, Kennedy said.

Malonson's car struck Piccirelli's auto as he made a lane change. Her car overturned several times on the freeway's right shoulder, Kennedy said.

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Photo

Photo: A CHP officer writes his report on a collision thatkilled two in Santa Clarita.

Associated Press