Four dead, three injured as stolen SUV hits another

PALMDALE, Calif. - A speeding, stolen sports utility vehicle went out of control and crashed head-on with another SUV Thursday, killing four people and injuring three others, authorities said.

''An unmarked sheriff's patrol vehicle was passed by an SUV moving about 90 mph. That vehicle hit the rear of a light truck, also northbound, and both vehicles went into the southbound lane,'' said Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Ken Wright. Officers said drivers of both SUVs were among those injured.

Parolee Shawn Beavers, 27, of Rosamond, was driving the stolen SUV and was transferred to County-USC Medical Center's jail ward. It wasn't immediately disclosed what Beavers was on parole for. The SUV was stolen Tuesday.

Beavers' passenger, an unidentified woman, died while firefighters and paramedics tried to free her from the wreckage of the SUV stolen in Los Angeles.

The truck was driven by Mike O'Donnel, who was uninjured.

O'Donnel's truck passed in front of a southbound Lexus SUV, but the stolen Jeep SUV struck the Lexus, Wright said. A bumper torn away during the collision struck a sheriff's patrol vehicle, but no one in that car was hurt.

Dr. John Fisher, Antelope Valley Hospital nephrologist, was driving the Lexus. Fisher, who also owns Antelope Valley Dialysis, had four members of his staff in the SUV. Georgina Schmidt, 44, Mark Rittenberg, 52, and his wife, Mary, all died.

Linda Mann, 37, was taken to Lancaster Community Hospital where she was listed in critical condition.

Fisher was in good condition at Antelope Valley Hospital.