A 22-year-old woman was killed in a two-vehicle crash in the Willowbrook community of unincorporated Los Angeles County Saturday morning possibly triggered by an alleged drunk driver who suffered moderate injuries and was arrested, authorities said.
The driver in the other vehicle, a 2012 Infiniti, fled the scene on foot, the California Highway Patrol reported. He was only described as a male.
The victim was later identified as Brenda Mejia, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner website. The website does not list a decedent’s city of residence.
The collision took place at the intersection of Central Avenue and El Segundo Boulevard at around 12:45 a.m. Saturday, according to the CHP.
Kimberly Dunne was driving a 2012 Toyota southbound on Central Avenue at an unknown speed as a 2012 Infiniti was going northbound on Central Avenue, also at an unknown speed, according to a CHP statement.
“The Infiniti made a left turn onto westbound El Segundo Boulevard, while the 2012 Toyota continued southbound through the intersection, which resulted in a broadside traffic collision,” according to the statement.
Mejia, a passenger in the Infinity, was pronounced dead at the scene. Sharlyn Vaca, 20, also a passenger in the Infinity, was taken to St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, where she was being treated for moderate injuries.
Dunne, a 32-year-old resident of Los Angeles, was subsequently arrested. It was not immediately clear what charges she might face. Paramedics rushed her to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, where she was being treated for moderate injuries.
“Two additional juvenile passengers within the Toyota were transported to local hospitals with moderate and major injuries,” according to the CHP. “Alcohol and/or drugs are believed to be a factor in this traffic crash.”
The initial call came to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Century station and was forwarded to the CHP, which had jurisdiction.
A watch commander at the Century station said “they (deputies) had to do crowd control.”
Anyone with any information regarding the crash was urged to call the CHP’s South Los Angeles office at 424-551-4000 or the agency’s Los Angeles Traffic Management Center at 323-259-3200.