Man Held in Crash That Killed 2

A man suspected of being under the influence of PCP was arrested on murder charges Sunday after a road rampage near Exposition Park that ended in flames when his car hit a Volkswagen Beetle, killing two women, Los Angeles police said.

Kenneth Lamont Forward, 36, allegedly caused a string of car crashes Saturday night when he was speeding in a Plymouth sedan east on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, police said. He clipped another car headed in the same direction, although that driver was not injured, police said.

Seconds later, police said, Forward veered his car across several lanes and hit a 1991 Mustang. The three occupants were uninjured.

Running a red light, Forward turned south onto the wrong side of Vermont Avenue, where he ran a second red light before plowing head-on into the 1974 Volkswagen, police said.

The VW spun backward into the southbound lane, struck another car and burst into flames, police said. The occupants of the second vehicle suffered minor injuries.

After they were pulled from the fire, the two unidentified women were taken to County-USC Medical Center. One died upon arrival and the second died early Sunday morning, hospital spokesman Jim Kelly said. Both women had third-degree burns over most of their bodies and multiple internal injuries, he said.

As police attempted to pull Forward out of his burning car, he allegedly struggled with them, striking one in the face, said Officer Jack Davenport.

Forward suffered minor injuries, as did three officers who were treated at St. Francis Medical Center before they were released, Davenport said.