A head-on collision on Grimes Canyon Road in Bardsdale left a California Highway Patrol officer and a passenger with major injuries late Saturday night, after a pickup truck driver accused of driving drunk crossed into oncoming traffic. The crash happened around 10:56 p.m. in the 1700 block of the rural two-lane highway, also known as State Route 23, in the unincorporated stretch between Fillmore and Moorpark.
The driver of the Chevrolet pickup truck was identified as 34-year-old Santa Paula resident Derek Skinner, who suffered only minor injuries and was booked into Ventura County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence causing bodily injury, according to CBS News Los Angeles. A 40-year-old Chatsworth woman riding as a passenger in Skinner's truck also suffered major injuries, alongside the CHP officer involved in the collision. Both are hospitalized and expected to make full recoveries, per the same report.
As detailed in a Fillmore Public Safety News report, first responders from the Ventura County Fire Department, AMR Paramedics, and officers from the Moorpark and Fillmore police departments converged on the scene. Crews shut down both lanes of Grimes Canyon Road for nearly three hours to investigate the wreckage and clear debris from the roadway, a closure that cut off a primary connector between the Santa Clara River Valley and Moorpark during the overnight hours.
A Winding Road With a Dangerous History
The CHP's Moorpark Area office is leading the investigation. That office operates out of a facility shared with the Moorpark Police Department and is responsible for patrolling roughly 650 linear miles of highways and unincorporated roads across Ventura County, according to the California Highway Patrol. Grimes Canyon Road's sharp curves and rural layout have made it a persistent trouble spot for head-on collisions.
In November 2021, a sports car crossed into oncoming traffic near Meadowglade Drive and struck a semi-truck, killing two people and injuring two others, the Moorpark Acorn reported at the time. More recently, in February 2025, a vehicle collided with a Ventura County Sheriff's K9 patrol unit near a rock quarry on the same stretch of road, causing minor injuries, according to the Ventura County Star.
A Rough Night for Law Enforcement Vehicles
Saturday's crash wasn't the only close call for Ventura County law enforcement that night. Around 9:04 p.m., roughly two hours before the Bardsdale collision, a Tesla driver reportedly operating on Autopilot veered off course in Thousand Oaks and struck a stopped Ventura County Sheriff's patrol unit, according to Safety for Citizens. Neither driver in that earlier incident was found to be impaired, marking two separate patrol-vehicle collisions across the county within hours of each other.
What Skinner Could Be Facing
Under California Vehicle Code Section 23153, driving under the influence causing injury is a “wobbler” offense that prosecutors can charge as a felony carrying up to four years in state prison, according to Eisner Gorin LLP. Additional consecutive sentencing enhancements of one to six years can apply when a victim suffers great bodily injury or when multiple victims are hurt, though it remains unclear whether the Ventura County District Attorney's Office will pursue those enhancements given the major injuries suffered by both the officer and the truck's passenger. Formal criminal filing decisions had not been announced as of this report.
The crash adds to a string of DUI enforcement concerns across the state. In July, the California Highway Patrol awarded more than $41 million in grants statewide to fund targeted enforcement surges and public education campaigns aimed at curbing impaired driving. Grimes Canyon Road has also drawn scrutiny in other Hoodline coverage, including a fatal Highway 23 median crash reported earlier this year near Moorpark.
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