Woman, 89, Dies in Collision With Suspected Drunk Driver
An 89-year-old woman was killed and three others were injured when a suspected drunk driver in a pickup truck collided with a car on the road leading to the Odyssey Restaurant, police said Thursday.
The accident happened shortly after 6 p.m. Christmas Eve on Odyssey Drive.
Yetta Kleinberg of Van Nuys suffered a heart attack and died as a result of the accident, police believe.
Kleinberg’s daughter, Iris Herzog, 59, suffered a broken leg and was treated at Northridge Hospital Medical Center. Her husband, Sheldon Herzog, 67, had a bruised left shoulder and was treated at Granada Hills Community Hospital.
Marco Lara, 47, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol. Police said he drove his 1981 Chevy pickup down Odyssey Drive, crossed into oncoming traffic and struck the Herzogs’ 1992 Buick.
Officer Toni Wolfe of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division said Lara was speeding and that he told police he had been drinking in the restaurant’s parking lot before the accident.
Lara suffered a sprained ankle and a gash on his forehead. He was being held at the Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles in lieu of $50,000 bail.
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