One dead, one injured in accident

By Chan Tran and John Caldwell
Daily Forty-Niner

A minivan swerved into oncoming lanes and smashed into a light pole at Seventh Street and Margo Ave./East Campus Drive killing the driver and injuring a Cal State Long Beach student waiting to cross the street around noon Wednesday.

Gordon Keith Faretta, 47, a resident of Corona del Mar, was driving a '98 Dodge minivan heading eastbound on Seventh Street. His vehicle veered across the westbound lane and struck a traffic pole on the northwest corner of Seventh Street and Margo Ave/East Campus Drive, said Nancy Tabing, a spokesman for the Long Beach Police Department.

Long Beach fire department arrived at 12:28 p.m. and extricated him from vehicle He was transported to Long Beach Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

"He was totally embedded in there," said Rosemary Schmidt, an arts major at CSULB who witnessed the rescue. "His arm was hanging around the front of his body."

Faretta was trapped in the vehicle for about 30 minutes while firefighters pried him loose with the Jaws of Life and a saw.

He suffered agonal respiration (slow respiration), pulmonary arrest, and was unconscious with multiple lacerations, said Bob Caldon, a Long Beach Fire Department public information officer.

Faretta, a disabled ex-marine, used special hand controls to drive his van. He was seated in the wheelchair when the accident occurred.

It is unknown if the controls were stuck or how fast he was going, LBPD Sgt. Mike Bolden said.

James Pinola, 49, who was identified by Schmidt as a CSULB student, was standing on the corner of the intersection when he was hit with debris. He suffered gashes to his arms and was bleeding from his legs, Schmidt said.

Both victims were taken to Long Beach Community Hospital, according to the Long Beach Fire Department.

Pinola was released from community hospital with minor injuries.

"I was in the parking lot and I heard this huge bang," said Schmidt, who was standing in Lot 7 when she rushed over to help Pinola. "It sounded like someone dropped a huge metal door."

Schmidt said Pinola had rolled to the grass when he saw the van coming. He was covered in oil and blood and she held him until paramedics arrived.

The accident covered a large section of the westbound side of the intersection. The light pole was moved out of place by the force of the impact and a crane was used to remove a dangling section of the stoplight. The left front section of the van was smashed; glass, oil and debris were scattered over a wide area.

"The traffic signal got hit [and] was hanging," said Mark Roberts, a traffic signal technician for the City of Long Beach.

Traffic heading west on Seventh Street was closed to one lane while eastbound traffic was reduced to two lanes with the left turn lane closed, LBPD Cpl. Rick Goodwin said.

The westbound lane traffic was diverted for two hours and East Campus Drive was shut down at the Seventh Street intersection.