SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA / A news summary : The Local Review / DEVELOPMENTS IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Driver Surrenders in Hit-Run Death of Ex-Chiefs Player
DOWNEY — A 29-year-old Downey man turned himself in late Sunday in the fatal hit-and-run collision that killed a former professional football player earlier in the day, police said.
Rene Contreras surrendered at Downey police headquarters on Brookshire Avenue about 9 p.m. He was booked for vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run in connection with the death of former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jaime Fields, 29, said Downey Police Det. Ron Norman.
Contreras was transferred to the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles on Monday and is to be arraigned in Municipal Court today, Norman said.
He has no history of hit-and-runs or other accidents on his driving record, Norman said.
The crash occurred about 2:30 a.m. Sunday when Contreras ran a red light at Stewart and Gray Road and Downey Avenue, striking Fields’ car on the driver’s side.
An autopsy is pending, Norman said.
A Lynwood High School graduate, Fields played football at the University of Washington for four years. He was drafted in the fourth round in 1993 by the Chiefs, the team for which he played until injuries forced his retirement in 1995.
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