Last Updated on September 2, 2020 by CCAR Staff
Charges were filed against a 19-year-old Riverside man on Friday, Aug. 28, a year after prosecutors say the man was involved in a 100 mph street race that resulted in the death of another driver.
Juan Angel Hernandez is accused of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and participating in a speed contest, Riverside County Superior Court records show. An arraignment has not been scheduled.
Simon Loza, 18, of Riverside, died about 45 minutes after the 10:57 p.m. crash on Aug. 23, 2019 on Magnolia Avenue near Lincoln Street in the unincorporated community of Home Gardens.
Witnesses that included passengers said Hernandez, Loza and two other drivers were racing in an area of Magnolia that had a posted 45 mph speed limit, according to a declaration written by a California Highway Patrol officer in order to obtain an arrest warrant. A witness said Loza, driving a Subaru WRX, ran a red light at Lincoln, spun out, went off the road and struck a palm tree.
Hernandez stopped, got out of his Honda Accord and called 911. He then drove away, the declaration said.
Surveillance video recovered from a business showed that four cars were racing, the declaration said. Two of the four vehicles could not be identified, so no other charges were brought, CHP Officer Steven Cuevas said.
On Sept. 12, the CHP officer was driving through an apartment complex at 1251 Massachusetts Ave. in Riverside when he spotted Hernandez standing next to a Honda that matched the description of one being sought. Hernandez acknowledged that the Honda was his, the declaration said, and later admitted to racing a Nissan. But he denied racing Loza, the declaration said.
Two others were injured in the crash.
