Teen-Ager Killed in Crash on Freeway

A North Hollywood teen-ager was killed in a traffic accident on the Ventura Freeway in which another auto was split in two without injuring its occupants, the California Highway Patrol reportered Monday.

Pedro Flores Soltero, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene near the Cahuenga Boulevard off-ramp in North Hollywood, where the Suzuki Samurai in which he was a passenger flipped over and hurtled down an embankment, CHP Officer Bob Koetting said. The driver of the other car, Carlos Eduardo Colocho, 20, also of North Hollywood, was cited for misdemeanor drunken driving and released, Koetting said.

Koetting said the crash remained under investigation. He said Colocho, who was driving a Datsun, was cited at the scene because he appeared to be drunk and results of a blood-alcohol test are pending.

Koetting said Colocho blamed the Samurai’s driver for the accident, but witnesses told police that Colocho had been driving erratically and swerved from the westbound fast lane to the slow lane when he struck the Samurai about 9:25 p.m. Sunday. The Datsun pushed the Samurai over the freeway’s embankment, then spun out of control and struck a guardrail. Colocho and his passenger in the front seat were apparently unharmed because the car struck the guardrail beside the back seat, cutting the auto in two behind them.

The Samurai’s driver and three other passengers escaped with minor injuries, Koetting said. He added that Soltero, who was sitting behind the driver, probably would have lived had he worn a seat belt.