Three Locals Killed in Separate Weekend Car Crashes
An vehicle accident early Sunday morning at the Ocean View Boulevard offramp of the 210 Freeway resulted in death of the driver and his passenger.
According to California Highway Patrol, around 5 a.m. on Sunday, Daniel Paul Morales, 23, of La Crescenta was traveling westbound on the freeway in a 2001 Ford SUV when the vehicle exited at Ocean View.
For an unknown reason the car made an extreme right turn, struck the north guardrail and became airborne, landing approximately 60 feet below on a residential street, according to a CHP spokesperson.
Morales’ passenger, Mallory Peck, 21, of Sunland, was thrown from the vehicle, which landed on Waltonia Drive in Montrose. Both Morales and Peck were pronounced dead at the scene by Los Angeles County Fire Dept. personnel, said the CHP spokesperson.
Neither Morales nor Peck were wearing seat belts. The investigation into the accident is still ongoing.
Pasadena Scene of Other Crash
Close to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Christopher Clark, 20, of La Crescenta was stopped at the stoplight on Corson Street in Pasadena when Raymond Gallie, 69, of Woodland Hills, rear- ended Clark’s vehicle at a high rate of speed. The young La Crescentan was killed instantly, said Janet Pope Givens, a Pasadena Police Department spokesperson.
Gallie was traveling eastbound on the 210 before taking the Lake Avenue exit, which empties on to Corson Street. Gallie had just been involved with another accident on the eastbound 210 where he collided with a vehicle; the other driver stopped but Gallie did not, Pope Givens said.
Gallie, driving a late model Ford Mustang, created a chain reaction when he rear-ended Clark’s late model Nissan, causing Clark to collide with a pickup truck driven by Joshua Carreon, 21, with passenger Jaklin Romine, both of Pasadena. At least three other cars were involved in the pileup. La Cañada High School students were reportedly in one of the cars impacted by the accident. The mother of one of the involved students, who asked to remain anonymous, said that her son was in the first car at the stoplight and Clark was three cars behind his vehicle.
“He [Gallie] was going at a high speed,” said the local woman. “He shoved all the cars forward.”
Clark was pronounced dead at the scene; victims of the accident were transported to Huntington Hospital. Romine was transported with serious injuries including a broken back, Carreon was found to have minor injuries. Gallie, the driver at fault, was also transported to Huntington with a broken wrist and ankle.
Pasadena police did not report any suspicion of Gallie being under the influence of drugs or alcohol although blood was drawn, Pope Givens said. The Major Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) is conducting interviews with Gallie and witnesses to determine the exact cause of the accident. No charges have yet been filed.
The mother of the LCHS student said she went to the scene of the accident. She described it as chaotic, with cars all over the street.
“That boy [Clark] was just three years older than my son. I feel so sorry for that mother,” said the woman. “I tell [her son and his friends] all the time to wear their seat belts and to be careful. It’s not that I don’t trust them, but I don’t know the guy that’s coming around the corner.”