Motorcyclist Charged in Crash Deaths : Courts: Canoga Park man faces manslaughter counts in accident that killed Reseda couple.

A Canoga Park motorcyclist was charged Monday with felony manslaughter in the deaths of a Reseda couple with whom he allegedly had a traffic dispute.

Police initially held Martin J. Ruthman, 33, on suspicion of murder in the Thursday crash that killed Mark and Rowena Gold on Victory Boulevard in Reseda.

The Golds died immediately when their Honda Accord swerved to avoid Ruthman’s motorcycle, then jumped the curb and hit a tree, police said.

Investigators said witnesses reported that immediately before the crash, Ruthman, angry that the driver, Mark Gold, 45, had passed him on the right, pulled alongside the car and kicked at the passenger side door and shouted angrily at the couple.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert P. Imerman said Monday that interviews with witnesses indicated that Ruthman’s alleged kicking of the car’s door “was not what caused the car to go out of control.”

But he said swerving in front of the Golds’ car “showed gross disregard for their safety, and we therefore feel vehicular manslaughter is the correct charge.”

Ruthman’s attorney, Mitchell W. Egers, welcomed the decision not to file murder charges but insisted his client was innocent of all charges and “wasn’t even involved in the accident.”

Ruthman, apprehended by police at his Sherman Oaks motorcycle repair shop shortly after the incident, is scheduled to be arraigned on April 8 in Van Nuys Municipal Court. His bail was set at $15,000 during a brief appearance in court Monday.

He is charged with two counts of felony vehicular manslaughter and one felony count of leaving the scene of an accident.

If convicted of all three of the counts, Ruthman could be imprisoned for 8 years and 8 months, Imerman said.