6 Killed in 5 L.A. and O.C. County Crashes

Six people died in traffic accidents in Los Angeles and Orange counties late Saturday night and Sunday, officials said.

In Torrance, a man allegedly fleeing with his son in a custody dispute Saturday night smashed his van into a car, killing a passenger in the car, police said.

Michael Lee, 45, of Lawndale was in custody at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Officials said he would be booked on suspicion of homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, felony evading arrest and endangering a child.

Officers reported seeing Lee, driving a white van, and a woman driving an SUV racing out of the Denny’s restaurant parking lot at 132nd Street and Hawthorne Boulevard in Hawthorne about 11:30 p.m.

Hawthorne police followed the vehicles for about a mile, when the SUV stopped. A woman inside told officers that her 15-year-old son had been taken in the white van, officials said. The van continued toward Torrance, nearly running over police officers on the way, said Hawthorne police Sgt. Mike Lee.

The driver ran a red light at Cabrillo Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard and hit the car in the intersection, officers said.

A passenger in the car, a 31-year-old woman, was taken to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. Police withheld her name, pending notification of her family. The driver of the car was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center with serious injuries. Lee, the suspect, was being treated for minor injuries at Long Beach Memorial, and his son was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

In Los Angeles, two people died early Sunday morning when the driver of a Ford Escape hit a parked truck on a ramp going from the northbound Harbor Freeway to the northbound Hollywood Freeway, the California Highway Patrol said.

The passengers in the Ford, a 23-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman, both from Los Angeles, died at the scene, said coroner’s Lt. Fred Corral. The coroner’s office was trying to identify them.

California Highway Patrol officials said the driver of the Escape, Mario V. Lara, 22, of Los Angeles, was drifting to the right on the ramp and hit the disabled truck about 3:30 a.m.

Officials said Lara fled, and they later found him at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was being treated for unspecified injuries.

CHP officers arrested him on suspicion of felony hit and run and driving under the influence.

About 3:30 a.m., a pedestrian on the northbound Long Beach Freeway in East Los Angeles was struck by several cars and killed, the CHP said. The 32-year-old man apparently had lain down on the road. He died at the scene, coroner’s Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said. Coroner’s officials were trying to contact family members.

In Fullerton, an 18-year-old man died about midnight when he tried to change lanes, lost control of his car and crashed into a brick wall, authorities said.

The man, Ryan Michael Wise of Fullerton, died at the scene, said Cullen Ellinburgh, supervising deputy coroner in Orange County. A male passenger was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center with head injuries, severe lung bruising and a broken collarbone, Fullerton police said.

Wise was speeding west in the 1500 block of West Commonwealth Avenue, police said. Officials believe he crossed several lanes as he lost control of the car, drove across a sidewalk and hit the wall head-on. Investigators asked that anyone with information about the accident call (714) 738-6813.

Also on Sunday, a person was killed about 5:30 p.m. on the southbound 710 Freeway near Slauson Avenue in a crash involving a big rig that closed down three lanes of the freeway for about four hours.