HAWAIIAN GARDENS : Warrant Issued for Suspect in Fatal Hit-and-Run Crash
A 19-year-old laborer has been identified as the suspect in a hit-and-run crash that killed one Hawaiian Gardens City Council candidate and severely injured another two days before the April election, Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators said Wednesday.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Ismael Gutierrez on felony charges of hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter, Sheriff’s Detective Joe Torreblanca said.
Torreblanca said Gutierrez is the registered owner of the 1974 Ford pickup that struck the two women as they drove through a Hawaiian Gardens intersection at 12:50 a.m. on April 12. Valerie Gaxiola, 48, was pronounced dead at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Mary Corrales, 43, received severe head, abdominal and chest injuries and she remains hospitalized.
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