Chatsworth Man Kills 3 Women In Wrong-Way Crash

LOS ANGELES, CA — A wrong-way driver who killed himself in a head-on collision that took the lives of three women in another car Sunday was identified as a Chatsworth man.

Ruben Gonzalez, 30, was driving an Impala the wrong-way on Foothill (210) Freeway in Lake View Terrace, triggering a head-on collision. The crash happened early Sunday morning at about 1:50 a.m. on the eastbound side of the 210 Freeway near Wheatland Avenue, according California Highway Patrol Officer Peter Nicholson.

According to Nicholson, Gonzalez was heading westbound in the eastbound lanes when he drove headlong into a 2015 Toyota Corolla occupied by three women from Baldwin Park. Gonzalez was killed instantly along two Corolla passengers, Dimora Ortiz, 62, and Patricia Araujo, 60. The Corolla's driver, Ana Zuniga, 56, died at the hospital a short time later.

The crash shut down the eastbound lanes of the freeway for nearly six hours Sunday.

Anyone with information about the crash was urged to call the CHP's Altadena Area office at (626) 296-8100.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report. Photo: Shutterstock