A 5-year-old girl was killed when the vehicle she was riding in was struck by a vehicle driven by a suspected drunk driver in Lake Los Angeles, who was in custody and hospitalized Wednesday morning with major injuries.

The driver of a 2006 Nissan Xterra traveling eastbound on Avenue O at 165th Street East about 8:45 p.m. Tuesday “allowed his vehicle to drift into the westbound lane of Avenue O” where it crashed into a Nissan Altima with five people inside, according to Officer S. Taggert of the California Highway Patrol.

The 5-year-old girl was fatally injured in the crash. Two other children, a 3-year-old boy and 1-year-old girl, and two adults, a 26-year-old woman and 27-year-old man, all from Palmdale, were in the Altima and were taken to a hospital with moderate injuries. The driver of the Xterra, identified as 61-year-old George Kokoteev of Palmdale, was arrested and taken to a hospital with major injuries, Taggert said.

Alcohol was suspected to be a factor in the crash, he said.

Witnesses to the crash were asked to call Officer Taggert at the Antelope Valley CHP Office at 661-948-8541.

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