3:45pm | A Los Angeles man driving under the influence of alcohol slammed into a tree in Long Beach Friday night, seriously injuring himself and killing his female passenger, police said.
Long Beach police officers responded to the single-vehicle traffic accident at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Wardlow Road at about 11:44 p.m. April 1, according to information provided by Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman Nancy Pratt.
When the officers arrived at the scene, they found a 1991 Toyota Camry tha had crashed into a tree. Both occupants, a man and a woman, sustained serious injuries and were transported to a nearby hospital by Long Beach Fire Department paramedics, Pratt said.
The investigation has thus far revealed that the driver of the Camry, the male, was driving without his headlights on and was speeding as he headed north on Atlantic. As the Camry sped through a red light at Wardlow, it narrowly missed colliding with a 2005 Toyota Scion that was traveling westbound on Wardlow on a green light. The Camry swerved to the right to avoid hitting the Scion, veered off of the roadway and smashed head-on into a palm tree, Pratt said.
The male driver, 29-year-old Heriberto Cervantes of Los Angeles, sustained multiple injuries to his upper body and was Saturday listed in serious but stable condition. His passenger, 22-year-old Dana Acosta of Anaheim, sustained multiple internal injuries and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital, Pratt said.
Cervantes was arrested for felony gross vehicular manslaughter, felony drunk driving and driving on a suspended license, Pratt said.
The accident occurred just a week after the LPBD on two consecutive weekends conducted roughly eight-hour DUI saturation patrols funded by a grant. Those patrols removed from the streets two drunk drivers per weekend and resulted in eight drivers the first weekend and six the following weekend being cited for driving while unlicensed or driving on a suspended license, according to the LBPD.
A number of residents have complained that the patrols were ineffective due to only two drunk drivers per patrol being taken into custody.
Anyone who has information about the incident is asked to contact Long Beach Police Accident Investigation Detective Brian Watt at 562-570-7355.