WHITTIER — One young Whittier man is dead and another is badly injured and in custody at a hospital on suspicion of drunken driving and gross vehicular manslaughter after a solo-car crash earlier this week, authorities said.
Dennis Avila, 20, of Whittier, died in Tuesday’s 11:15 p.m. crash on Gretna Avenue, just south of Rose Hedge Drive, in an unincorporated county area near Whittier, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner’s Lt. Larry Dietz said.
He was a passenger in a 2000 Volkswagon sedan being driven by Steve Rangel Jr., 20, of Whittier, who was allegedly drunk, California Highway Patrol Officer Jeremy Tolen said in a written statement.
Rangel was southbound on Gretna Avenue prior to the crash, traveling at “an undetermined high rate of speed,” Tolen said. “For reasons unknown, Rangel lost control of the Volkswagon, and the the vehicle subsequently struck a tree, a sedan parked on the street and a sedan parked on a residential driveway.”
Neither Rangel nor Avila were wearing seat belts, officials added.
“The engine compartment separated from the passenger compartment and came to rest in a front yard across the street from the passenger compartment,” Tolen said.
Rangel remained hospitalized Friday, officials said. His exact condition was not available, but he was expected to survive.