Local News in Brief : Laguna Niguel : Montebello Man Killed on I-5; Driver Booked

A Montebello man was killed early Friday in Laguna Niguel when his car was struck on Interstate 5 by a vehicle driven by an unlicensed Garden Grove resident.

The unlicensed driver, Ascension Cornejo, 19, was booked into County Jail on felony drunk-driving charges and is expected to be charged soon with vehicular manslaughter, said Highway Patrol Officer Ken Daily.

The victim, 19-year-old Szuchi Chou, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Daily said Chou had been parked on the right shoulder of the southbound Interstate 5 just north of Crown Valley Parkway when the accident happened, at about 6 a.m.

“Chou had not been (parked) there very long,” Daily said. “He might have pulled off to take a nap, or he might have run out of gas. We’re not sure why he was there.”

Daily said Cornejo told officers that he had steered onto the right shoulder thinking it was a fifth lane and while trying to avoid a large truck he said was too close on his left.