UPDATE – Frazier Park, Calif. (Monday, Nov. 22, 2010, 3:30 p.m.)—Taylor Bedard’s mother reports that Taylor is off all IVs, is off oxygen and will be transported to Kaiser hospital soon. Kathy Bedard reports that her daughter has multiple broken bones. "She is good and strong and her spirits are high. She really wants to come home. She has had a lot of support," Bedard told The Mountain Enterprise today.

UPDATE – Frazier Park, Calif. (Monday, Nov. 22, 2010, 3:15 p.m.)—The Fort Tejon CHP office today issued a corrected news release for the head-on collision which occurred in Lake of the Woods on Thursday, Nov. 18. This release corrects the errors mentioned below and now shows George Leverich as a passenger in the correct vehicle, the Toyota Rav4.

UPDATE – Frazier Park, Calif. (Monday, Nov. 22, 2010, 2:45 p.m.)—Kristin Rodriguez reports that Gladys Geraldino says her "legs are pretty bad." She doesn’t think she’ll walk again. She believes she’ll be hospitalized for at least 3 months. She’s at Kern Medical Center now. George Leverich was to begin a medically induced coma on Friday, for about two days.

UPDATE – Frazier Park, Calif. (Friday, Nov. 19, 2010, 1:01 p.m.)—The Fort Tejon office of the California Highway Patrol issued its accident report and has indicated that the correct spelling of George and Gladys’ names are: George Leverich, 68 of Frazier Park and Gladys Geraldino, 59 of Frazier Park. The CHP report incorrectly states that George Leverich was an occupant of the white Mazda, while numerous friends and family members of both parties have confirmed that Taylor Bedard was the only occupant of the Mazda and that Leverich was a passenger in the Toyota, driven by Geraldino.

The CHP report is as follows, with the factual errors left intact:

"On 11/18/2010 at approximately 1522 hours Party-1 (Bedard) was traveling westbound on Frazier Mountain Park Road east of Lakewood Place at an unknown speed. Party-2 (Geraldino) was traveling eastbound on Frazier Mountain Park Road east of Lakewood Place at 40 mph. For reasons to be determined Bedard allowed her vehicle to travel across the double yellow lines into the eastbound lane of Frazier Mountain Park Road and directly into the path of Geraldino. This resulted in a head-on collision and both drivers sustained major injuries as a result of the collision. the passenger in Bedard’s vehicle sustained moderate injuries. Hall Ambulance Service’s air ambulance, as well as Ventura County’s air ambulance, responded to the United States Forest Service Chuchupate Ranger Station and transported both drivers to Kern Medical Center. The passenger from Bedard’s vehicle was transported to Kern Medical Center by a Hall Ambulance ground unit."

Frazier Park, Calif. (Friday, Nov. 19, 2010, 10 a.m.)—Officer Ryan Patrick of the Fort Tejon California Highway Patrol office said he will not have complete details about the head-on crash until about noon. Members of the public who have property which was found as a result of the crash are asked to take it to the CHP office to be logged in for return to the families.

Family and extended family of those in the accident are beginning to contact the newspaper office for information and assistance. Members of the community are also calling, expressing anxiety to know how they are doing. Kristin Rodriguez of Pinon Pines said those in the dark Toyota RAV4 SUV were George Leverage (phonetic spelling) and Gladys Geraldino (phonetic spelling). They are members of Rodriguez’ extended family.

Two victims were flown out by helicopter yesterday, and one was taken by ground ambulance, Officer Patrick said.

"George had just bought a house in Frazier Park. He is a wonderful man, a scientist and a professor," Rodriguez said in a telephone interview. She said he is in Henry Mayo hospital, sedated, with internal injuries. Geraldino is in Kern Medical center; she is reported to have broken legs and broken ribs.

"We are all neighbors; the Bedard family just lives down the street from me in Pinon Pines," Rodriguez said, referring to Taylor Bedard, who is said to have been the driver of the white Mazda."We will be praying for Taylor too," she said. Bedard (graduated from Frazier Mountain High School in the class of 2010) is reported by friends to have broken legs and other injuries, but said to be conscious.

The Dever family called to say they have a cell phone from Leverage’s car. Rodriquez said the family needs the phone to be able to notify Geraldino’s family from Peru about her condition. The numbers to her family are in the telephone.

We will update this report as soon as CHP is able to make official confirmation of names, spellings and details.
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FRAZIER PARK, Calif. (Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010, 4:20 p.m.)–A head-on collision in Lake of the Woods, on Frazier Mountain Park Road between Midway Market and Lakewood Drive, blocked commuter traffic for two miles this afternoon.

At approximately 3:30 p.m. emergency crews were dispatched, including three ambulances, two helicopters, Kern County Fire Department’s (KCFD) Station 57, Station 55, sheriff and three CHP units. A white Mazda Protoge and a black Toyota Rav4 had collided, resulting in substantial injuries to at least one vehicle occupant and significant damage to both vehicles.

Witnesses at the scene gave conflicting accounts of what happened. Zach Giancanelli said it looked like the white car (traveling west) swerved into the path of the black car (traveling east).

The mother of another witness who was driving behind one of the vehicles said her son told her it looked like the black SUV had swerved into the path of the white car.

Early reports were that one 59-year-old female was being transported to Kern Medical Center via Hall Ambulance Service helictoper with two "long bone fractures." The condition of the other occupant of the SUV was not known by the time of this report.

Friends of the woman driving the white sedan have said her name is Taylor Bedard and that she has suffered broken legs as well as head injuries.

It is believed that there were two occupants in the black SUV and one occupant in the white sedan.

KCFD’s crews used the jaws of life to extricate the driver of the black SUV.

This is part of the November 19, 2010 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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