A 24-year-old woman suspected of drunken driving was jailed Tuesday morning in connection with a deadly hit-and-run crash on the eastbound Foothill (210) Freeway in La Verne.
The suspect was driving a 2012 BMW 528i eastbound in the No. 3 lane on the Foothill Freeway east of Fruit Street about 9 p.m. Monday when the vehicle struck a person who was standing on the right shoulder of the freeway assisting a disabled driver, according to the California Highway Patrol. The victim was a tow truck driver, NBC4 reported.
The CHP began to receive calls moments after the crash that a semi was slowing the suspect vehicle down.
Video from the scene showed the driver, identified by the CHP as Karen D. Floresarrelano, in custody in the back seat of a CHP SUV and investigators examining her vehicle, which was stopped on the right shoulder of the freeway with the semi a short distance in front of it.
Alcohol was suspected to be a factor in the crash, the CHP said. Floresarrelano was booked at the San Dimas sheriff’s station.
The age and name of the victim were not disclosed.
The Nos. 1, 2 and 3 lanes of the eastbound Foothill Freeway near Fruit Street were closed shortly after the accident, but the carpool lane remained open. All lanes of the freeway were reopened about 12:45 a.m.