3 women killed by suspected DUI driver, police say. They reportedly had just left a baby shower
A Pomona man was arrested Saturday after allegedly driving under the influence and crashing into another car, killing three women, police said.
Police arrested Victor Siharath late Saturday night after the two-vehicle collision around 11 p.m. at the intersection of South White Avenue and Phillips Boulevard in Pomona.
Siharath had a prior DUI conviction, according to Aly Mejia, a spokesperson for the Pomona Police Department.
Everyone involved in the collision was “moderately to severely injured,” police said in a news release, and they were treated by Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel.
Two women died at the scene, police said. Three others were taken to a nearby hospital, where another woman died.
The man entered and tried to operate a Waymo vehicle that had stopped to let out a passenger Saturday night, an LAPD detective said.
Police identified the dead as Lorena Morales, 58, of Montclair; Alejandra Olaez, 33, of Pomona; and Yesenia Ochoa, 33, of Pomona.
KABC-TV reported that Morales was driving and her husband, Juan Manuel “Jaime” Garcia, was the front-seat passenger. Olaez’s 12-year-old daughter was in the backseat. The group was reportedly on their way home from a baby shower.
Ochoa was in the process of adopting her 11-year-old nephew, the outlet reported.
“She died loving me,” the nephew, Brian Gonzalez, told the news outlet. “I wanted her to see me grow up.”
One person was still hospitalized in critical condition as of Sunday morning, according to Mejia. A male passenger sustained injuries that were not life-threatening.
Siharath, the sole occupant of the other vehicle involved in the crash, was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI after officers determined that he was impaired, police said
The Pomona Police Department’s Major Accident Investigation Team is investigating the collision. Anyone with information is asked to call the department’s Traffic Services Bureau at (909) 620-2048.
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