MONTEREY PARK — A Baldwin Park man is suspected of drunken driving in after slamming his pickup truck into a disabled car on the 60 Freeway late Thursday, killing a man and woman inside, authorities said.
Salvador Tamayo, 39, was treated for minor injuries and booked on suspicion of felony drunken driving following the 10:16 p.m. crash on the westbound 60 Freeway, just east of Atlantic Boulevard, California Highway Patrol Officer Doris Peniche said in a written statement.
Killed were Jorge A. Perez, 34, and his passenger, 31-year-old Beatriz Castillo, both of Los Angeles, officials said.
Perez and Castillo were inside a 2008 Honda Civic travelling about 50 mph in the slow lane when the car apparently clipped a big-rig and went out of control, Peniche said. The Honda struck the center divider wall and became disable, facing sideways in the fast lane.
Tamayo, who was driving a 2003 Ford F-250 pickup at an unknown speed, “failed to react in time, and the front of (the pickup truck) struck the rights side of (the Honda),” Peniche said.
The large pickup truck pushed the Honda about 200 feet and ultimately came to a rest on top of the sedan, the officer said.
Perez and Castillo suffered fatal injuries in the impact and were pronounced dead at the scene by Monterey Fire Department paramedics, officials said.