Man Held in Girlfriend’s Crash Death

Ten months after his girlfriend died in a car crash, a Westminster man has been arrested on suspicion of causing her death, police said Wednesday.

Huy Tuan Phan, 24, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of kidnapping and murder in the death of Karen Anh Nguyen, 21, of Santa Ana, said Lt. Mike Handfield, a Garden Grove police spokesman.

Phan is expected to be arraigned today on charges of kidnapping and murder. He is being held without bail in Orange County Jail.

At the time of the Jan. 22 car crash, authorities said, Phan told California Highway Patrol officers that Nguyen had become distraught over their relationship, grabbed the steering wheel and yanked it, causing their car to crash over the side of the Garden Grove Freeway east of Euclid Street.

Phan told police that Nguyen “essentially committed suicide,” Handfield said. Nguyen was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, where she died hours later. Phan sustained minor injuries in the accident.

Phan was arrested the night of the crash on suspicion of drunk driving. He was released pending further investigation.

Initially, officers from Garden Grove responded with CHP officers, who took jurisdiction over the investigation.

But an hour after taking Phan’s statement, the CHP requested that Garden Grove police return to the scene because Phan told them that Nguyen had committed suicide.

Police investigator Carl Whitney spent 10 months gathering information, which included talking to family and friends of both Phan and Nguyen.

According to police, the couple were arguing because Nguyen wanted to end their relationship.

During the argument, which lasted several hours, Phan refused to let Nguyen out of the car, thus the kidnapping charge, police said.

“The argument escalated into a physical confrontation in the vehicle, which led to the crash,” Handfield said.