LOCAL : Passenger in Stolen Car, 20, Killed in Panorama City Collision

A man who was a passenger in a stolen car was killed this morning in Panorama City when the car sped through a stop sign, was hit by another car and then careened into a tree, Los Angeles police said.

The 17-year-old driver of the stolen car was slightly injured and was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, police said. The driver of the second car was uninjured.

The crash occurred about 12:25 a.m. at Chase Street and Matilija Avenue, said Officer Ed Pedneau. The name of the 20-year-old Panorama City man who was fatally injured was not released pending notification of his family.

Pedneau said the 17-year-old was driving a 1983 Toyota Celica that had been reported stolen by a Reseda resident Thursday night. The car was heading south at an estimated 70 m.p.h. on Matilija Avenue when it ran a stop sign at Chase Street and was struck broadside by a car driven by Somkid Metriyakool, 36, of Arleta.

The force of the impact pushed the stolen car onto a lawn, where it slammed into a tree, Pedneau said. “Both cars were totaled--crushed like beer cans,” Pedneau said.

The passenger was taken to Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Panorama City, where he died at 1:50 a.m., police said. The driver, who is from Reseda, was treated at Panorama Community Hospital and released to police. He was being held at the Van Nuys jail, Pedneau said.