2 Plead No Contest In Deadly South Bay Street-Racing Crash

REDONDO BEACH, CA – Two 20-year-old men pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter in connection with a street-racing crash in Torrance that left a young man from Harbor City dead last year.

Zachary Frank Leets of Torrance and Luis Samaniego Barajas of Los Angeles are facing four years in state prison, according to Deputy District Attorney David Zygielbaum.

Leets and Barajas were racing their vehicles on Pacific Coast Highway when Barajas' vehicle crashed against a center divider, sending the vehicle airborne into oncoming traffic near 242nd Street, where it crashed head-on into a vehicle driven by Maximillian "Alexis" Rojas, the prosecutor said.

Rojas, 20, of Harbor City, died as a result of his injuries. Leets and Barajas are due back in a Torrance courtroom for sentencing Jan. 7.

City News Service contributed to this post; Image via Shutterstock