Suspected Drunk Driver Seized by Witnesses After Fatal Crash

An 18-year-old Pico Rivera woman became Los Angeles County’s first traffic fatality of the year when the car in which she was riding was broadsided by a suspected drunk driver who was captured by onlookers when he tried to flee, sheriff’s deputies said.

Anna Marie Moreno died Friday morning at a Montebello hospital shortly after the 2 a.m. crash. Her brother, Armando, 21, who was driving the car, was in critical condition at another hospital. A second passenger suffered only minor injuries.

The alleged drunk driver, Michael Mendoza, 21, of Pico Rivera was jailed on suspicion of manslaughter. Sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Decourcey said Mendoza ran a red light and after the crash tried to run off, “but a bunch of people who were around there chased him down on foot and caught him.” The bystanders held Mendoza, who was uninjured, until a sheriff’s deputy arrived.