Playa Vista Man Involved in Fatal Freeway Crash

Two alleged drunken drivers, including a Playa Vista man, hit each other and then plowed into a construction crew on the San Diego Freeway in the South Bay on Sunday, and killed two road workers.

The workers were identified as Ramon Lopez, 56, of Chino Hills and Ricardo Zamora, 58, of Winchester in Riverside County, said Coroner's Lt. Cheryl MacWillie.

Paramedics rushed a third worker to Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center with minor to moderate injuries, said California Highway Patrol Officer Dion Conley. The crash was reported to the CHP at 3:35 a.m.

The two workers were employed by a contracting firm under Caltrans supervision, and their bodies were still at the scene at midmorning.

CHP officers said a blue Ford Explorer driven by Yocio Jonathan Gomez, 33, of Norwalk, smashed into the rear of a black Lexus RX-350 SUV driven by Stephan Christopher Caserta, 43, of Playa Vista, Conley said.

"As it turns out, one of the motorists (Caserta) was slowing down as he saw the construction site. He was rear-ended by the other motorist, which caused them both to drive into the construction zone,'' said CHP Officer Ed Jacobs.

The sport utility vehicle spun out control, forcing him to strike the three workers. Gomez's car overturned on its roof.

Paramedics rushed both drivers to hospitals, where both were arrested for suspicion of drunken driving. The medical conditions of Gomez and Caserta were not immediately known.

"And there's a lot of charges we can affix to that (charge)," Conley said.

The northbound 405 remained closed at the South Bay Curve until about 2 p.m. as the CHP Major Accident Investigation Team surveyed the wrecks. The incomplete repaving job was also completed, CHP officers at the scene said.

"At the time of the closure the number one and the HOV lanes were the only lanes open' on the northbound 405 near the Artesia Boulevard offramp," Conley said.