Authorities suspect DUI in fatal crash
An 18-year-old Newbury Park man was killed early Monday when the car he was riding in veered off the Ventura Freeway, tumbled down an embankment and rolled over the man after he was ejected from the vehicle, authorities said.
Ryan James Edward, 18, was a passenger in the 2007 Scion that was driven by a 17-year-old friend who apparently lost control of the vehicle about 2 a.m. on the northbound freeway just east of the Rancho Road exit, said Randy Pickens, an officer with the California Highway Patrol’s Moorpark station.
“The victim was not wearing a seat beat,” Pickens said.
The driver, also a Newbury Park resident who was not identified because he is a minor, was suspected of being under the influence of a controlled substance, Pickens said. He was taken to a hospital for observation and turned over to his parents.
A second passenger, Brandon Kessler, 18, of Thousand Oaks also was taken to a local hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries and released.
If a blood test confirms that the driver was intoxicated at the time of the accident, the CHP will seek to have him prosecuted on charges of driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter, Pickens said.
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