National City
A 75-year-old driver was killed and his pregnant daughter and grandchild were injured late Wednesday night when a hit-and-run driver crashed into their car, National City police said.
Witnesses told police that a car traveling east at 50 m.p.h. slammed into the car Benito Chavez was backing out of a driveway in the 2200 block of 18th Street, traffic investigator Steve Murray said. Chavez was thrown from the car.
Deputy Coroner Everett Mauger said Chavez was dead at the scene.
It took firefighters 20 minutes to free Chavez’s daughter, Luz Coronado, 27, from the wreckage. She was rushed to Mercy Hospital, where spokeswoman Laura Avallone said both the woman and her unborn child were in good condition.
Coronado’s daughter, Melissa, 2, was treated for a broken arm at Paradise Valley Hospital, a spokeswoman said.
Police said that, after the fatal accident, the driver of the hit-and-run car smashed into parked vehicles and a fence about half a block away. The driver fled on foot, police said.
A short time later, police arrested Victor Manuel Garza, 23, at a Paradise Hills home near the accident. Garza was being held on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, felony drunk driving and felony hit-and-run, police said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
