Accident

High numbers of drug-related expulsions, traffic accidents and absences have prompted a review of Crescenta Valley High School's open lunch policy, officials said this week. The La Crescenta campus is the only Glendale Unified high school that allows students to leave during its 35-minute lunch break - Hoover and Glendale high schools closed their campuses in 1992 and 1994, respectively. Crescenta Valley High also has the distinction of having expelled the most students for drug-related offenses - 41 during the last five years, more than twice that of Glendale High and more than three times that of Hoover High.

Prosecutors on Monday declined to press assault charges against a 24-year-old woman who was arrested for allegedly stabbing her girlfriend after police detectives discovered the couple had concocted the story as an elaborate cover-up, police said. The woman, Stephanie Trujillo and her girlfriend, Melissa Vasquez, initially told police that they had come to blows early Saturday after one accused the other of not having dinner ready on time, Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. The couple told police that they struggled over control of a knife when Trujillo threatened to kill herself and stabbed her girlfriend, according to incident reports.

A woman was killed and several people were injured Sunday when a car driven by a 15-year-old boy crashed on the 5 Freeway in Sun Valley, the Los Angeles Times reports . The car, a 2003 Honda, was traveling south at about 70 mph when it rolled over and struck a utility pole near the Sunland Boulevard exit ramp at 12:15 a.m., the California Highway Patrol reported. A 41-year-old woman who was thrown from the vehicle was taken to Holy Cross Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

A woman who was six months pregnant died at a local hospital after her car veered off an onramp to the Ventura (134) Freeway Sunday afternoon, officials said. Her unborn child also died, they said. California Highway Patrol Sgt. Chris Powell said the woman, whose name had not been released Monday afternoon pending notification of her family, was driving on the westbound 134 Freeway onramp at Victory Boulevard when her car, a light blue Mazda, veered to the right and collided with a tree.

A Fontana man died Sunday afternoon when he lost control of his motorcycle on Angeles Crest Highway and launched off the edge of a cliff, officials said. It is the third fatal crash on the steep, twisting roadway since the long-shuttered seven-mile segment between La Cañada Flintridge and Angeles Forest Highway reopened on June 3. The motorcyclist was identified by coroner’s officials as Everett Justin Howell, 35, of Fontana. Excessive speed may be to blame for the crash, said California Highway Patrol Sgt. Matt Armenta.

A two-day enforcement sting this week at the Doran Street, Chevy Chase and Brazil/Broadway rail crossings in Glendale — which included one motorist literally driving through a set of arm guards — should serve as yet another wake-up call to officials: The safest way to deal with a dangerous crossing is to simply close it. The Doran Street crossing in particular has been a point of contention between L.A. — which wants it open to maintain emergency...

Motorists and cyclists gathered by the dozen on Friday morning to be among the first in more than a year to travel a scenic stretch of Angeles Crest Highway that was closed after sustaining heavy damage following fire and rain. The steep, winding roadway had been closed between the Angeles National Forest entrance above La Cañada Flintridge and Angeles Forest Highway since January 2010 while state transportation officials repaired extensive damage to the 7-mile stretch of roadway.

CITY HALL — Roughly a third of Glendale’s bicyclists don’t use helmets, while more than 20% ride on sidewalks, according to a recent citywide survey of cyclists and pedestrians. The count — during which dozens of volunteers manned 26 street corners during a morning and evening weekday commute and a weekend morning — logged more than 2,000 cyclists and more than 15,000 pedestrians. The findings showed a continued need for public-safety campaigns to curb dangerous behaviors, said Colin Bogart, a liaison with the nonprofit Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition who oversaw the count as part of his work on a Safe and Healthy Streets plan.

NORTH GLENDALE — A 57-year-old Rancho Palos Verdes man who was found dead Monday may have fallen off a hillside near Scholl Canyon Landfill, officials said. Yoshiya Watanabe, who suffered from memory loss and diabetes, was discovered dead about noon Monday on the Glendale hillside after his family reported him missing Thursday morning, officials said. Watanabe was found Monday wearing the same pajamas as when he went missing Thursday, Glendale police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

CENTRAL GLENDALE — Police officials and volunteers scoured city streets this weekend to hand out fliers with tips on safely navigating the roads. Glendale Police Department’s latest public education campaign targeted pedestrians, motorists and businesses on Central Avenue. The thoroughfare has recently been the scene of several major collisions. “When you make the contacts, that’s what really counts,” Sgt. Dennis Smith said. Three teams of police employees and volunteers spent Saturday morning walking Central Avenue, visiting businesses and speaking to residents about traffic safety in an effort to reduce the number of pedestrian-involved traffic collisions in the city.