Driver in Alleged Drag Race Seriously Injured

A 24-year-old Canoga Park man was listed in serious condition after his car struck a lamppost on Victory Boulevard early Sunday morning after an alleged drag race, police said.

Richard Hendel was admitted to Northridge Hospital with two broken legs and possible pelvic and facial bone fractures after Los Angeles City firefighters worked for 40 minutes using a “jaws of life” hydraulic tool to pry him from the wreckage of his 1984 Mustang.

A passenger in Hendel’s car, Terri Wilson, 24, of Northridge, was treated and released from Northridge Hospital, Los Angeles police Sgt. Ken Staggs said.

Hendel was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving, Staggs said, because signs of intoxication were present and because a person other than the driver was injured.

Staggs said a witness saw Hendel’s car and another unidentified vehicle stopped, engines running, at the intersection of Victory Boulevard and Mason Avenue.

The cars sped away from the intersection, going east on Victory, Staggs said. Hendel apparently lost control and “wrapped the vehicle around the street light so tight it was like a glove,” said Sgt. Dennis Zine. The other vehicle left the scene.