Police Allege Murder in Fatal Collision

A Sherman Oaks woman, who had two previous convictions for driving while intoxicated, was driving drunk between 80 and 100 m.p.h. with her lights off early Tuesday when she rammed into a motorist stopped at a traffic signal, igniting a fireball that killed the other driver, police said.

Susan Rhea, 37, suffered only minor facial cuts, authorities said.

She was originally booked on suspicion of manslaughter, but the accusation was increased to murder after detectives examined the case, Los Angeles Police Detective Rick Talkington said. Talkington said Rhea’s driver’s license had been suspended.

Talkington said Rhea had been convicted of driving under the influence after an accident in the Lake Tahoe area in October, 1993.

Rhea was driving west on Sherman Way about midnight when her Lincoln Mark VII plowed into a Ford Tempo driven by Jesus Berumen, 45, of Reseda, that was stopped at the traffic signal at Winnetka Avenue, said Officer Jim Thompson.

Berumen’s car burst into flame, spinning into the traffic signal in the road’s median and severing the pole, Thompson said. Berumen died at the scene, Thompson said.

There were no skid marks to indicate that Rhea had used her brakes before hitting Berumen’s car, he added.

Thompson said many motorists remembered seeing Rhea speed past them.

“We’re going to make every effort to make her prosecution a murder,” Talkington said. Rhea will be arraigned Thursday, he said.