Pickup Slams Car on Freeway; 1 Killed

A suspected drunk driver at the wheel of a pickup truck slammed into a car stopped by a flat tire on the Harbor Freeway in South Los Angeles early Saturday, killing one man and injuring four people, authorities said.

The impact flung two men sitting in the bed of the pickup across the roadway, fatally injuring one of them, California Highway Patrol Officer Monty Keifer said.

John Darling, 18, died of his injuries at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, Keifer said. The second man, John Avalos, 23, was in critical condition at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, he said.

The driver of the pickup, Joel Ramirez, 23, suffered serious injuries in the accident, Keifer said. Ramirez was taken to Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital, where he was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, he said.

A woman sitting in the truck’s cab, Cynthia Gutierrez, 21, suffered a broken wrist, authorities said.

The pickup was heading north on the freeway about 4:56 a.m. when it crashed into the back of a car that had stopped with a flat tire in a traffic lane near the Manchester Boulevard exit, Keifer said.

The driver of that car, Horace Williamson, 66, suffered moderate to major injuries after being struck while standing near the back of his car. Williamson was taken to Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital, where his condition was not immediately released.