Pileup

Los Angeles prosecutors filed embezzlement, grand theft, drunk driving and weapons charges Monday against a former European video game executive, whose involvement in the crash of a rare Ferrari Enzo in Malibu two months ago has mushroomed into a case filled with international intrigue. The charges, more extensive than prosecutors had suggested last week, come as officials with Scotland Yard and U.S.

At least 20 vehicles crashed on rural Interstate 80 in blizzard conditions, killing at least six people, officials said. An undetermined number of injured victims were taken to hospitals in Laramie and Rawlins, the Highway Patrol said. Troopers reported strong winds that reduced visibility to zero. Several smaller crashes also occurred behind the 20-vehicle crash, troopers said. Interstate 80 was closed about 50 miles from Cheyenne to Laramie, at the request of Laramie officials.

Bird York "Wicked Little High" (Narada) * * IT'S probably the best story of indie music crashing the Oscar party since Elliott Smith got an Academy Award nomination in 1998, even if York, a successful actress under the name Kathleen York, isn't exactly the Hollywood outsider that Smith was when he was recognized for his contribution to "Good Will Hunting."

A native son rode without fear, a large and soggy Tour de France crowd roaring his name as he pedaled recklessly into his home town. But instead of being the toast of France, Christophe Mengin skidded wildly out of control as he turned the final corner in Thursday's sixth stage. His only reward for a hard day's ride, then, was a black eye and the feeling that he looked more like a boxer than a cyclist.

Two men whose alleged street racing caused a seven-car pileup in Anaheim that killed a Garden Grove woman last month have been arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, officials said Thursday. Gerardo Cruz-Perez, 20, and Jose Luis Hernandez-Perez, 19, both of Stanton, also face charges of exhibition of speed, reckless driving and driving without a license. Cruz-Perez was being held at Orange County Jail, bail pending.

A freight train derailment Tuesday in the City of Industry sent 21 railcars into a tangled heap, spilled flammable liquid and disrupted Metrolink service. About a dozen businesses were evacuated after the 9:30 a.m. crash of the Union Pacific train near Fullerton Road and Railroad Street. Officials said the cause was under investigation but that there was no indication of an obstruction on the tracks. No one was injured.

A pack of wild boars wandered onto a German motorway, causing a five-car pileup, injuring a motorist and leaving eight of the animals dead, police said. The cars on the Dresden-Berlin motorway hit the boars at high speed. One car flipped, injuring a 33-year-old female driver.

It takes a lot to lure Los Angeles traffic reporters onto the roads if there's any chance of traffic. They avoid the jams by circling over them in choppers or sitting in studios delivering the details to rush-hour drivers. Still, no one who counts in the traffic-talk biz skips the annual Golden Pylons, the Oscars for those who chronicle pile-ups, fender benders, SigAlerts and police chases. More than 80 attended the awards luncheon at Maggiano's Little Italy in the Grove.

An early-morning wall of fog near the top of Cajon Pass set off a series of chain-reaction crashes involving 66 vehicles Thursday, closing northbound Interstate 15 for more than five hours and leaving two dozen people injured. The crashes, 15 in all, caused five cars to burst into flames, left big-rig trucks scattered in the middle of the freeway and backed up Las Vegas-bound traffic for miles. The first accident occurred just after 6:30 a.m.

Second-year driver Carl Edwards and his Jack Roush-built Ford F-150 proved to be the strongest and fastest truck Friday night in the Florida Dodge Dealers 250, the opening race of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series. Under the lights at Daytona International Speedway, in a race that at times seemed more for surviving than for winning, Edwards held off what was left of the 36 starters for the final 21 laps. Because of an engine change, he had to start at the rear of the field.