‘04 Gets Off to a Deadly Start in Southland

A New Year’s Day freeway crash involving a drunk driver that left four children motherless was among the early casualties of the long holiday weekend in Los Angeles County, authorities said Thursday.

By late Thursday evening, four people had died in traffic accidents and 11 had been injured.

A 39-year-old Long Beach mother was killed and her four children were injured shortly before 3 a.m. when the car they were riding in was struck head-on by an alleged drunk driver traveling the wrong way on the 605 Freeway near Rose Hills Road in Pico Rivera, a California Highway Patrol officer said.

The woman, who has not been identified, was a passenger in a Ford Focus driven by her 17-year-old son in the southbound carpool lane when the vehicle was hit by a Nissan Maxima traveling north in the same lane, CHP Officer Joe Zizi said.

The mother was taken to Beverly Hospital, where she died at 3:30 a.m., Zizi said. Her teenage son suffered multiple fractures and was listed in serious condition at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

Three younger children were taken to Beverly Hospital, Zizi said. Two girls, ages 15 and 9, suffered mild to moderate injuries to the face, neck, chest and back, and a 10-year-old boy sustained major injuries with lacerations to his face and arms.

The driver of the Nissan, identified as Gaspar Angulo, 21, of La Puente, had a broken foot and minor cuts on his forehead, Zizi said. He was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence and hit and run, all felonies.

Moments before the fatal accident, Angulo was driving northbound in the southbound carpool lane near Whittier Boulevard when his car struck a Toyota sport utility vehicle driven in the southbound lane by Martha Espinoza, 48, of Baldwin Park, Zizi said. Espinoza sustained minor injuries.

In Lancaster, a 19-year-old man was killed and five others were injured in a two-vehicle crash at 30th Street West and Avenue K-8, authorities said. A Chevy Lumina sedan and a Chevy Tahoe sport utility vehicle collided at 7:40 p.m. Wednesday.

Matthew Dwyer, a passenger in the Lumina, died at the scene, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy said. The driver, Christopher Gross, 19, was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center and another passenger, Elizabeth Collazo, 18, was taken to Antelope Valley Hospital. The driver of the truck, Kathryn Rodriguez, 22, and two passengers, Brian Rodriguez, 23, and a 2-year-old boy, had minor injuries.

A 24-year-old motorcyclist was killed at 1 a.m. Thursday in Covina when his motorcycle crashed into another vehicle in an apparent attempt to elude a CHP officer, authorities said. Michael Johnson of Covina slammed into a car driven by Shadrach Yap Licayan, 45, as Licayan changed lanes on eastbound Arrow Highway at Citrus Avenue.

A 22-year-old man was struck and killed by a car near 96th Street East at Avenue R-11 in Lancaster shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day, a CHP officer said. No further details were available.

As the old year ended and the new year unfolded, at least eight people were killed and three were wounded in shootings and stabbings across southern Los Angeles County, authorities said.

About 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, a 19-year-old Tacoma, Wash., resident was shot and killed in the frontyard of a house in the 2100 block of 117th Street in Willowbrook, a sheriff’s deputy said. Terrell Porter was shot several times in the upper body during an argument, authorities said. He died at a local hospital.

The suspected gunman, Terry Morris, 21, of Los Angeles hid inside the house until deputies, a crisis negotiator and special weapons team persuaded him to surrender, authorities said. Morris was booked on suspicion of murder at the sheriff’s Century Station.

In Long Beach, a 20-year-old man was shot at 2:18 p.m. Wednesday while driving his car in the 1500 block of East 14th Street. The victim, Woodtee Bunthung, crashed into a parked vehicle and was taken to a local hospital where he died a short time later.

A 33-year-old man was shot and killed as his wife and children looked on at 3 p.m. Wednesday in an apartment complex in the 5800 block of South Street in Lakewood, an L.A. County sheriff’s deputy said.

Enrique Alvarez apparently refused to allow Joseph Reed, 24, through an apartment security gate, authorities said. Reed allegedly scaled an eight-foot wall, confronted and shot Alvarez several times. Alvarez was pronounced dead at the scene and a weapon was recovered.

Deputies from the Lakewood Station found Reed hiding in a nearby apartment, authorities said. He was taken into custody without incident, booked on suspicion of murder and is being held without bail.

Two men were fatally shot shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday near East 89th Street and Compton Avenue in Walnut Park, a sheriff’s deputy said. The shootings were under investigation Thursday.

In La Puente, an argument between rival gang members escalated into a fatal shooting four minutes into the new year, authorities said. A 22-year-old gang member was standing on the sidewalk talking to a friend at 12:04 a.m. Thursday in the 700 block of Clintwood Avenue when a rival gang member began arguing with him over gang affiliation, police said. The rival allegedly fired two shots into the man’s upper body before fleeing.

A 29-year-old man was dancing in the frontyard of his Long Beach house at 12:15 a.m. when he was struck in the head by a stray bullet, police said. Officers found Armando Itehua on the ground and bleeding in the 1300 block of Lewis Avenue. He was taken to a local hospital, where he is expected to recover.

One man was shot and another stabbed in separate incidents early Thursday in the Hollenbeck area, a Los Angeles Police Department officer said.

A 29-year-old man was shot in the leg about 2 a.m. as he left a party where he had been working as a disc jockey, police said. Guillermo Torres of Los Angeles was recovering at an area hospital. The circumstances of the shooting were under investigation.

An argument between roommates ended in a stabbing that left one man hospitalized at County-USC Medical Center, police said. The stabbing was reported shortly after midnight in an apartment in the 2000 block of Daly Street. The assailant was gone when police arrived.

An unidentified man was shot to death in Compton on Thursday afternoon. Sheriff’s deputies said the shooting occurred about 3:40, but had no further information.

A few minutes later in South Los Angeles, a 51-year-old man was stabbed to death. Los Angeles police said the 3:45 p.m. incident on West 81st Street appeared to have been related to a domestic dispute. A woman was taken into custody as a possible suspect.