2 Die, 4 Hurt as Car Hits Parked Truck; Driver Arrested

Two people were killed and four injured early Tuesday when the car in which they were riding plowed into the back of a parked dump truck in Reseda, Los Angeles police said.

The driver, Ricardo Pulido, 24, of Canoga Park, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, Officer Mark Warschaw said. Pulido was being treated at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where a spokeswoman said he was in serious condition with cuts, a concussion and a broken jaw.

The names of the dead, a 43-year-old Woodland Hills man and another man, 28, whose address was not known, were withheld until relatives could be notified, said a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

The 1966 car was traveling south about 45 m.p.h. on Balboa Boulevard when it struck the rear of the dump truck about 2:15 a.m., Warschaw said. The car was was legally parked on the boulevard south of Keswick Street, he said.

Results of a test for alcohol in a sample of Pulido’s blood are awaited, Warschaw said.

One of the men killed was thrown from the center of the rear seat through the front windshield, Warschaw said.

Arturo Figueroa, 28, was listed in critical condition at Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills, and Alicia Ramirez, 43, was in serious condition, a hospital spokeswoman said. The addresses of Figueroa and Ramirez, both passengers in the car, were not available.

Another passenger, Roberto Estrada, 21, of Woodland Hills, was treated at Northridge Hospital Medical Center and released, a hospital spokeswoman said.