3-Vehicle Accident Jams Freeway

Two people suffered minor injuries Wednesday in an accident on the Ventura Freeway involving a California Highway Patrol car, a tractor-trailer rig and a sedan, authorities said.

The accident closed one north-bound lane near the Johnson Drive exit in Ventura for more than four hours, snarling traffic in both directions.

Gary Adams, 45, a veteran CHP officer involved in the accident, escaped unscathed, said Officer Steven Reid of the Ventura CHP office.

A preliminary investigation indicated the 1:30 p.m. accident occurred when San Pedro truck driver Mario Ramirez, 45, apparently tried to change lanes, colliding with a car in the next lane, authorities said. The driver of that car, 58-year-old Roseanne Boken of Los Angeles, lost control of the car as she swerved to avoid the truck, authorities said. Her car struck the passenger door of the patrol car in the next lane, Reid said.

The patrol car spun out and ended up on the right shoulder along with the truck, which was not hit. Boken’s car sustained major damage and Boken and her passenger were taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard for treatment of minor injuries, Reid said.