One person is dead and another is hospitalized after a reckless driver slammed into their car at high speed Friday evening, according to Long Beach police. And after a lengthy search by SWAT officers, police say that reckless driver is in custody.
Police allege the driver, identified as 34-year-old Guillermo Penaloza, caused the deadly crash just before 7 p.m. as he sped away from officers who’d just spoken with him.
Police said the officers were patrolling when they saw Penaloza in a Chevy Suburban and “had a brief verbal exchange with him as they passed one another in their vehicles.” (Police didn’t immediately answer questions about what was said, but they noted the vehicle Penaloza drove was stolen.)
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Penaloza took off at high speed on 14th Street, and officers followed at a distance, police said. At Cherry Avenue, the Suburban slammed into a much smaller Saturn sedan headed southbound. As officers tried to aid the man and woman in the Saturn, Penaloza ran, police said.
Police said they surrounded the area and called in SWAT officers who searched for nearly three hours before arresting Penaloza, who was booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, felony hit and run, possession of a stolen vehicle and resisting arrest. His bail was set at $50,000, police said.
Police said the man and woman in the Saturn were taken to the hospital where the man died. The woman remained in critical condition, according to authorities. Authorities identified the man as Theodore Banks, 51.
Police said Penaloza’s “speed and disregard for public safety appear to have contributed” to the crash.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with Banks’ name.