DUI driver, pulled from deadly crash with beer in pocket, gets 6 years
A Van Nuys man was sentenced to six years in prison for killing his friend in a high-speed drunk-driving crash in which he was pulled from the wreckage with cans of beer in his pockets.
Edward Lamont Powe, 25, pleaded no contest last month to one count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and was sentenced Tuesday. The Dec. 30, 2013, crash near Roscoe Boulevard and Hayvenhurst Avenue in North Hills killed his friend, 19-year-old Jennifer Benga.
Prosecutors said Powe was driving more than 90 mph when he slammed his Ford Focus into a light pole, passenger-side first. Benga, who was in the passenger’s seat, was pronounced dead at the scene.
When Powe was removed from the car he had three cans of beer in his pockets and smelled of alcohol, authorities said.
News footage of the scene showed a crumpled gold sedan on the sidewalk with a light pole nearby on the ground.
The crash came in the wake of a holiday crackdown on DUI drivers in which Los Angeles County law enforcement officers arrested nearly 1,700 people.
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