CRASH SCATTERS NEW GAP DUDS.

Byline: Daily News

SANTA CLARITA - Some of The Gap's Christmas season clothing made its public debut Thursday night, but it wasn't on store racks.

A semi-truck filled with the clothes overturned about 9:40 p.m. while heading south on the Golden State (5) Freeway, just north of the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway interchange, spilling boxes of the gear onto the road, the California Highway Patrol said.

The semi driver, a 36-year-old Buena Park man whose name wasn't available, was trying to avoid a 1994 Mazda that veered out of control, crossed several lanes and smashed into the truck, police said.

The truck swerved into an embankment and overturned into three freeway lanes, forcing police to close the area for more than five hours, police said. The truck driver suffered minor injuries.

CHP officers said they did not know what caused the car's driver, a 21- year-old Manteca woman, to lose control of her vehicle and hit the truck, then the center divider. She was not injured.

The Gap sent security guards to watch over the clothes while towing crews attempting to turn the truck right-side up, authorities said. With no success, the clothes were eventually loaded into another truck.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. No alcohol or drugs were involved, officers said, and no decision has been made on whether to charge the car's driver.