Man Who Let Son, 13, Drive May Be Charged for Fatality
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SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — The California Highway Patrol is seeking a manslaughter complaint against a man for allowing his 13-year-old son to drive a pickup truck that was involved in an accident, killing a passenger.
Authorities said the youth was driving when the truck slammed into a tree near South Lake Tahoe on Tuesday.
CHP Officer Rich Haley said the boy was driving his stepfather, Jerry Tyson, 34, of South Lake Tahoe and an acquaintance, Bryan Rice of Modesto, 24, when the accident occurred.
Haley said the boy apparently glanced away from the road, lost control and struck the tree.
Rice was pronounced dead of head and upper body injuries.
The boy was released from a hospital and Tyson was listed in satisfactory condition with facial fractures.
Haley said Tyson and Rice had been out together, then picked up the boy and drove to Lake Tahoe to watch the sunrise.
Afterward, because the two men had been drinking, they asked the boy to drive home, Haley said.
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