Crash Caused by Wrong-Way Driver Kills Man on Foothill Freeway

A wrong-way driver, who terrified Foothill Freeway commuters Tuesday morning as he traveled 10 miles westbound in the eastbound lanes at high speeds, caused an accident in which he was seriously injured and a Newhall man was killed, officials said.

Both the alleged wrong-way driver, Alexito Manuva, 34, of West Covina, and the crash victim, Frank Rodriguez, 20, were airlifted from the crash site just west of the Lowell Avenue exit in Glendale to Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. Rodriguez was pronounced dead at the hospital, said California Highway Patrol Officer Gretchen Jacobs.

Manuva underwent surgery for “massive blunt chest trauma,” said Toni Miller, a hospital spokeswoman. He was in fair condition late Tuesday.

CHP officials intend to prosecute Manuva if he survives his injuries, Jacobs said.

“If he does not expire, he will be charged with murder,” she said.

Before the 11:50 a.m. crash, numerous frightened drivers called emergency numbers from their car phones to report the wrong-way driver. One of them, Darcy Shepherd, told CHP officers that Manuva was traveling about 70 mph.

“It was kind of a shock,” Shepherd said later. “It was a very, very abnormal thing to see.”

CHP officials said they did not know why Manuva, who got turned around near where the Foothill Freeway meets the Ventura Freeway in Pasadena, drove such a long distance in the wrong lanes.

“We do not know if he had drugs in his system, we do not know if he was suicidal, we do not know if he was not right in the head,” Jacobs said.

Blood taken from Manuva will be tested for intoxicants, she said.

The crash shut down westbound freeway traffic for an hour and eastbound lanes for three hours.