2 Killed in Inglewood Crash; Alleged Drunk Driver Arrested

Two men were killed Saturday morning in Inglewood in a fiery four-car collision caused by a suspected drunk driver who walked away from the crash with only minor injuries, authorities said.

Ignacio Becerra, 23, of Los Angeles, was booked by Inglewood police on charges of felony drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter. He was being held at the Inglewood police station without bail, police said.

The names of the two victims, a 61-year-old Inglewood man and a Riverside man also in his 60s, were not being released, pending notification of their families.

The accident at 8:20 a.m. snarled traffic around Los Angeles International Airport for most of the morning while emergency crews worked to clear the wreckage at the intersection of Century and Crenshaw boulevards.

Inglewood Police Sgt. Thomas Farrell said the crash occurred when Becerra, who was traveling west on Century in a 1977 Ford LTD, slammed into a pickup.

The truck, driven by the Inglewood victim, shot forward 300 feet and rear-ended a Datsun, Farrell said. Meanwhile, Becerra’s car careened into the back end of an Isuzu, rupturing its gas tank and sparking a spectacular blaze that firefighters said was visible almost a mile away.

Inglewood fire officials said the Riverside man in the Isuzu was knocked into the back seat by the collision and was unable to escape the flames that engulfed the car.

The Inglewood man died of internal injuries en route to Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital, police said.

Inglewood Fire Capt. Dave Herbert said Becerra suffered only “a cut leg and a few bumps on his head.” The driver of the Datsun was uninjured.