Man pleads no contest in fatal street racing crash

POMONA - A Montclair man pleaded no contest to three counts of vehicular manslaughter today in connection with a 2002 street racing crash in which three people were killed.

Roque Torres, 28, entered his pleas in Pomona Superior Court as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors that carries a prison sentence of five years and four months. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 25.

According to prosecutors, Torres and another driver, 22-year-old Jamael Glenn Johnson, raced each other at speeds of up to 100 mph in Pomona on Dec. 20, 2002.

Johnson's 1993 Honda collided with a van at Garey Avenue and Philadelphia Street, killing Johnson and his two passengers: Jose Issac Batres, 26, and Carlos Mendoza, 20. All three men were from Pomona.

Torres fled the scene after the crash, authorities said.

The driver of the van suffered serious injuries, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

The case remained unsolved until October 2010, when the Pomona Police Department received an anonymous tip implicating Torres, according to the news release. Torres was arrested in February.