Driver in Crash Facing Charges of Manslaughter

The California Highway Patrol said Friday that it will file vehicular manslaughter charges against a Sherman Oaks teen-ager involved in a fiery traffic accident that left three people dead Thursday afternoon.

Officer Monty Kiefer said the 16-year-old boy, whose name was not released, suffered major injuries when the Mercedes-Benz he was driving slammed into a sports car on Las Virgenes Road half a mile south of Agoura Road in Calabasas.

Kiefer said the Mercedes was traveling at high speed when, unable to negotiate a curve, it ran head-on into a Datsun 260-Z carrying a 27-year-old woman and a 14-year-old boy. The Datsun was pushed into another car and burst into flames. The Mercedes went on to sideswipe another car.

Kiefer said the woman and boy inside the Datsun were burned beyond recognition. Their names were withheld pending notification of relatives.

A passenger in the Mercedes, Michael Wigneswara, 17, of Upland, died at Westlake Community Hospital shortly after the crash.

The driver of the Mercedes is being treated at Northridge Hospital Medical Center. His condition was not available.

Kiefer said the occupants of the two other cars involved in the accident received minor injuries.