Driver in Fatal Pasadena Crash Charged Suspected of DUI

PASADENA, CA -- A 38-year-old motorist, suspected of driving drunk, was arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter for causing a single-vehicle crash in Pasadena Saturday that killed his passenger, a 52-year-old woman.

Fire and police personnel dispatched about 5:30 a.m. to the 900 block of Seco Street came upon a red 2007 Ford Edge that had struck a pole as it was going eastbound on Seco Street, between Rosemont and Lincoln avenues, said Pasadena police Lt. Diego Torres.

The driver, Javier Placensia Jr., was not injured. Paramedics rushed his passenger to an area hospital, where she died from her injuries, Torres said.

``It is believed that alcohol was a related factor in the collision," he said.

Placensia was arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and was booked at the Pasadena Jail, where he was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail, Torres said.

The Pasadena Police Department's Major Accident Investigation Team asked anyone who saw the crash to call them at (626) 744-7159.

City News Service; Photo: Shutterstock