Wrongway Driver Who Killed 2 On 118 Identified

PORTER RANCH, CA — The coroner Monday publicly identified a wrong-way driver who crashed head-on into a car on the Ronald Reagan (118) Freeway, killing both drivers and badly hurting one passenger.

He was James Gubera Jr., 30, of Los Angeles, said coroner's Lt. Larry Dietz.

The man now identified as Gubera was apparently driving west in the eastbound lanes a little before 12:25 a.m. Sunday approaching De Soto Avenue, said California Highway Patrol Officer Elizabeth Kravig.

Callers phoned in reports of a wrong-way motorist moments before the crash, CHP officials said. A 2014 Toyota was in the carpool lane, heading the wrong way, when it slammed into a 2003 Lexus driven by a 38 year-old Simi Valley man.

Both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene, said coroner's Investigator Trini Godoy.

A passenger in the Lexus was identified as Brooklyn Acker, 25, also of Simi Valley. Paramedics rushed her to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills with major injuries, the CHP reported.

A SigAlert was issued at 12:41 a.m. as the carpool and the left three lanes of the eastbound freeway were closed for wreckage removal and investigation. Lanes were re-opened at 5:12 a.m., Kravig said.

The CHP's West Valley office asked anyone who saw the crash to call them at (818) 888-0980.

The crash was similar to another wrong-way crash that occurred in the midnight hour early Sunday on the 605 Freeway in Baldwin Park.

City News Service