Golden State Freeway

Officials are investigating what caused a tanker truck to overturn near a freeway onramp. Burbank hazardous materials crews were sent to the Alameda Avenue onramp for the south Golden State (5) Freeway shortly before midnight Wednesday. The truck overturned on a parkway between the on-and offramps. The truck driver suffered minor injuries, Burbank Fire Marshal Dave Starr said. The truck leaked crude oil from its holding tanks and diesel fuel from its saddle tanks onto the dirt parkway.

The driver of a motor home that led police on a chase through Burbank city streets was taken into custody Friday evening after being stopped in the 800 block of Groton Street. California Highway Patrol units chased the motor home around 5:30 p.m. as it headed south on the Golden State (5) Freeway near the Lankershim Boulevard offramp, CHP Officer Vince Ramirez said. The driver of the motor home was thought to have been involved in a hit-and-run incident, Ramirez said.

An Arkansas man fell to his death onto Alameda Avenue from the Golden State (5) Freeway. Phillip Scott, 23, died Thursday at the scene, Sgt. Glen Sorknis said. Police were still investigating if he was killed from the trauma of the fall or from being hit by cars, Sorknis said. Police had not determined by Friday night if Scott's death was a suicide or accident. Scott, from Hot Springs Garland, Ark., was seen by witnesses walking up to the freeway bridge and later falling over, landing on Alameda Avenue in a westbound lane.

The following incidents were taken from police reports. MEDIA DISTRICT NORTH 4300 Riverside Drive: Someone threw a brick Wednesday through a window at Papoo's Hot Dog Show and stole a cash register with $200 in it, police said. MEDIA DISTRICT NORTH 1600 block of West Victory Boulevard: A 20-year-old Burbank man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of pushing his 21-year-old girlfriend in the face and shoving her to the floor during an argument, police said.

Jacqui Brown Tuesday's storm dumped a lot of rain on the area but caused no major emergencies. Burbank police and fire authorities did not report any major incidents as of Tuesday afternoon. Underpasses at Alameda Avenue under the Golden State (5) Freeway and another at Lincoln Street and San Fernando Boulevard were briefly closed on Tuesday morning due to flooding, but they were later reopened, Public Works Director Bruce Feng said. Burbank Dept.

Two men who allegedly stole a truck Friday morning were arrested on suspicion of grand theft auto after the owner called 911 and then followed the thieves on a local freeway for about 15 miles. Omar Diaz, 19, of Los Angeles, and an unidentified Bell Gardens man allegedly took a 1997 Dodge Dakota that was idling and left unattended about 7 a.m. outside of Bake It Again, Sam at 4007 W. Riverside Drive, CHP Officer Alex Delgadillo said. The owner of the truck, a 33-year-old Burbank man, saw the vehicle being driven away, and convinced the bagel shop owner to follow the men in his van, Delgadillo said.

A bill that honors slain Burbank Police Officer Matthew Pavelka on a stretch of the Golden State (5) Freeway passed its first legislative checkpoint Monday, when the Assembly Transportation Committee approved it. The bill, introduced in January by Assembly members Dario Frommer (D-Burbank) and Keith Richman (R-La Crescenta), would rename the southbound and northbound portions of the freeway between West Burbank Boulevard and Hollywood Way "Burbank Police Officer Matthew Pavelka Memorial Freeway."

SOUTH SAN FERNANDO DISTRICT -- Three armed men robbed a Burbank office building Friday evening, holding at least one person at gunpoint and stealing an unknown number of cellphones from one of the businesses inside, officials said Friday. No one was injured during the incident, which lasted about one minute and happened about 5:15 p.m. in a four-story office building at 105 W. Alameda Ave. in Burbank, at the intersection of Flower Street, near the Golden State (5)

Woman dies in freeway crash An unidentified woman was killed early Saturday morning when her car careened off the Golden State (5) Freeway and landed on the railroad tracks below the overpass, the California Highway Patrol said. The highway patrol received a call at 3:50 a.m. reporting that a Honda Accord was engulfed in flames at Providencia Avenue and Bonnywood Place near the tracks, said Officer Chris Cracraft, a Highway Patrol spokesman. Though no witnesses have come forward, officers suspected that the car left the roadway and fell through the gap between the northbound and southbound lanes of the overpass.

I enjoyed reading Will Rogers' recent column on the woes experienced while driving through the old Five Points intersection. Part of the problem is that there are not enough onramps for the freeway. Therefore, anyone wanting to get onto the Golden State (5) Freeway has to use Burbank Boulevard. What good is it to place more offramps for the Empire Center if everyone has to use Burbank Boulevard to get back on? It simply adds to the congestion. The ultimate solution, in my opinion, is going to have to be an overpass built at the intersection so Burbank Boulevard traffic can glide over Victory Boulevard and traffic begins to move the way God meant it to. Of course, when that happens, I suspect someone will determine that traffic is moving too fast and speed bumps will probably be installed.