TEEN MAY FACE MORE CHARGES IN FATAL CRASH.Byline: Phillip W. Browne Daily News Staff Writer A 16-year-old Tarzana boy remained hospitalized Monday as detectives prepared to seek charges against him following a weekend crash that killed one woman and injured four others, officials said. The boy, whose name was being withheld because he is a juvenile, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of driving under the influence of a controlled substance controlled substance n. a drug which has been declared by federal or state law to be illegal for sale or use, but may be dispensed under a physician's prescription. , said Los Angeles police Officer Leona Thomas. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office might be asked to seek additional charges, police said. After the crash late Friday on Oxnard Street near De Soto Avenue, police pulled several canisters and balloons out of the car the boy was driving, and they were believed to be filled with nitrous oxide nitrous oxide or nitrogen (I) oxide, chemical compound, N2O, a colorless gas with a sweetish taste and odor. Its density is 1.977 grams per liter at STP. It is soluble in water, alcohol, ether, and other solvents. , also known as laughing gas laughing gas: see nitrous oxide. laughing gas (nitrous oxide) sweet-smelling, colorless gas; produces feeling of euphoria. [Medicine: Misc.] See : Laughter , Thomas said. ``The driver and the passengers all appeared to be light-headed and dazed daze tr.v. dazed, daz·ing, daz·es 1. To stun, as with a heavy blow or shock; stupefy. 2. To dazzle, as with strong light. n. A stunned or bewildered condition. ,'' Thomas said. The teen-ager was in stable condition Monday, detectives said. The youth is accused of causing the head-on traffic collision Friday evening that killed Reseda resident Gitty Houshiar, 54, and injured her husband, Bijan, 51. Bijan Houshiar was listed in stable condition at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Woodland Hills, said spokeswoman Lisa Court. ``He underwent surgery on his heel today and is going through physical therapy,'' Court said. ``We expect he'll be here a few more days.'' Detective Jim Deaton ofthe Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division declined to discuss the case because of the boy's age, but said it remained under investigation. The teen-age driver was a student at a San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. continuation high school A continuation high school is an alternative to a comprehensive high school primarily for students who are considered at-risk of not graduating at the normal pace. The requirements to graduate are the same but the scheduling is more flexible to allow students to earn their credits until March 1998, said Shel Erlich, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. . He was supposed to re-enroll at another school in April of that year, but never did, Erlich said. According to police accounts, the boy was driving a two-door Mitsubishi along Oxnard Street near Kelvin Avenue when he ran a stop sign, swerved across the double-yellow line and his car crashed into a Honda Accord. Gitty and Bijan Houshiar were inside the Honda. The boy's passengers, David Wood, 30, Shawn Pollack, 18, and Scott Wortington also were hurt in the crash, but their injuries were not life-threatening. The teen-age driver was taking one of his passengers to work at a Woodland Hills movie theater, Thomas said. Nitrous oxide is a popular inhalant inhalant /in·hal·ant/ (in-hal´ant) 1. something meant to be inhaled; see inhalation (def. 3). 2. a class of psychoactive substances whose volatile vapors are subject to abuse. among teen-agers, especially those who frequent ``rave'' parties. |
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