Southern California

A woman was killed in a fiery crash on the 118 Freeway near Porter Ranch, and her husband was arrested on suspicion of driving while impaired, authorities said.

The crash was reported about 11:45 p.m. Thursday, June 9, on the westbound 118, west of Zelzah Avenue.

A 31-year-old Northridge man was taken to a hospital for moderate injuries and then arrested and booked on suspicion of DUI, CHP Officer Weston Haver said.

Zeomara Cohen, 31, died at the scene, Haver said.

The couple’s three daughters were also taken to a hospital for treatment of moderate injuries; they are 9 and 4 years old and 4 months old. The children were released to the custody of family members.

The 2019 Lexus RX 350 was the only vehicle in the collision, Haver said, adding it is unclear how fast it was going.

The Lexus, for an unknown reason, turned right and left the roadway and hit a guardrail, went up an embankment and collied with concrete sewer drainage and then caught fire, the officer said.

The husband got out with one of the children, Haver said. Two Los Angeles police officers saw the collision and got the other two children out but couldn’t rescue the woman before flames consumed the vehicle.

By Thomas Tracy and Ellen Moynihan | New York Daily News

NEW YORK CITY — They Might Be Giants lead guitarist and singer John Flansburgh was hospitalized with serious injuries following an Upper East Side car crash sparked by a drunk driver, police said Friday.

Flansburgh, 62, was taking a car service back to his Upper East Side home after the band had a show at the Bowery Ballroom at about 12:45 a.m. Thursday when the Ford he was riding in was T-Boned by a 2016 Honda near the corner of Park Ave. and E. 102nd St.

The “Birdhouse in your Soul” guitarist’s Ford overturned and struck another car, cops said. The Honda, driven by 26-year-old William Mota, lost control, vaulted a curb and slammed into a gate outside the Carver Houses, cops said.

The car took out a planter and knocked the sign for the NYCHA complex off one of its posts.

“I heard a car hit the gate and it sounded like the car was tumbling over the gate,” eyewitness Jesus Flores, 34, said. “Then you see somebody trying to help people out of the car because it looked like it was going to blow up. It was really smoky.”

“The force of the impact actually flipped our car over to its side,” Flansburgh said on Instagram. “While the driver and I oriented ourselves to our new sideways, broken glass and airbag-filled reality, we sensed the ominous smell of motor oil and smoke. Remarkably, just a moment later it seemed, a dozen NYC firemen arrived and set their minds on finding a way to liberate us.”

EMS rushed Flansburgh and his 32-year-old driver to Cornell Hospital, where doctors learned that the guitarist had broken seven ribs.

They Might Be Giants postponed the rest of the band’s June tour dates as Flansburgh recovers.

“I would understand anyone thinking we are just a band born under a bad sign and giving up hope, but I also know someday we will rock again — and for me, that day couldn’t come soon enough,” Flansburgh posted from his hospital bed. “Until then I will be watching reruns of Sex in the City until I am strong enough to reach the remote. Wish me luck. I’m going to need it.”

Mota, a Bronx resident, blew past a red light before slamming into Flansburgh’s Ford. He tried to fight off responding police as he was rushed to Metropolitan Hospital with minor injuries. A 21-year-old riding with him suffered an injury to her knee and was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, where she was treated and released.

Cops charged Mota with drunk driving, resisting arrest and refusing to take a Breathalyzer test. His arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court was pending Friday.

Flansburgh co-founded They Might Be Giants in 1982 with longtime friend John Linnell while studying at Pratt Institute.

A convicted DUI driver was arrested in Rialto after he killed a Colton mother of three in a drunken driving accident that also left her husband hospitalized, police said Thursday, June 9.

On Wednesday, June 8, Rialto police officers responded to a two-vehicle crash  in the 300 block of North Riverside Avenue around 9:15 p.m., the Rialto Police Department said in a news release.

A black Mercedes C63 driven by 38-year-old Richard Madrid of Fontana was found to have collided into a Chevrolet HHR driven by a Colton man and his wife, 40-year-old Priscilla Hernandez of Colton, police said. Hernandez and her husband were taken to a hospital where she died of her injuries, authorities said.

The husband was hospitalized with “significant injuries,” but was said to be in stable condition, according to the Police Department.

An investigation indicated that Madrid was driving north on Riverside Avenue at a high-rate of speed and the Chevrolet was driving east on Third Street before Madrid struck them at the adjoining intersection, Rialto police said. Investigators had preliminary evidence that indicated Madrid was drunk when the crash happened, authorities said.

Madrid was taken to a hospital with minor injuries and then was booked on suspicion of murder, police said. His bail was set at $2.5 million, authorities said.

It was determined that Madrid had four DUI related convictions and was previously on felony probation out of Riverside County from 2016 through 2019 for a DUI conviction with three or more prior convictions within the past ten years, the Police Department said.

“This is yet another tragic example of what happens when a person simply doesn’t care about our State’s DUI laws,” said Rialto Police Chief Mark P. Kling said in a statement.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Madrid was represented by an attorney.

Anyone who may have information about the incident can contact Sgt. Dan Smith at 909-644-6025.

A Navy helicopter with four people aboard went down Thursday evening, June 9, in Imperial County in the same general training area as the site of a deadly Marine Osprey crash the day before, Navy officials announced.

One person was reported to have non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a hospital. The other three were reported to have no injuries. The crash happened about 6 p.m.

“The helicopter went down on a U.S. Navy training range near El Centro, according to our initial reports,” Cmdr. Zach Harrell, a Naval Forces spokesman, said. The crash was about 35 miles north of Yuma, Arizona.

The Marine Osprey crashed shortly before 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday near the Imperial Valley community of Glamis. Five Marines aboard died.

The Navy crash is the second this month. On June 3, Navy pilot Lt. Richard Bullock was killed when his F/A -18E Super Hornet crashed in the desert near Trona, Navy officials said.

All five Marines onboard an MV-22 Osprey training above the Imperial Valley desert are dead following the crash of their aircraft just before 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 8, near Glamis, officials with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing announced Thursday.

RELATED: Navy aircraft goes down near site of deadly Marine Osprey crash, no serious injuries reported

“We mourn the loss of our Marines in this tragic mishap,” Maj. Gen. Bradford J. Gering, commanding general of 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to their families and friends as they cope with this tragedy.”

The aircraft was based at Camp Pendleton and was part of Marine Aircraft Group 39 with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

The identities of the Marines will not be released for at least 24 hours and after notification of their families, officials said.

Still, some families have begun sharing their grief on social media.

Among the five Marines was Nathan Carlson, 21, of Machesney Park, Illinois, said his cousin, Gage McDonald, also 21.  McDonald said Carlson was an air crew chief with a squadron known as the “Purple Foxes.”

McDonald said Carlson’s father served in the Marine Corps in the 1990s and that his cousin was inspired to do the same.

“Ever since he was little, he always talked about joining the Marine Corps,” McDonald said, calling his relationship with Carlson close. The two attended and graduated from Harlem High School. Carlson had been a varsity swimmer.

Right after graduation, McDonald said his cousin went to boot camp. “He chose aviation and he loved it a lot.”

Just on Tuesday, a Facebook memory of the two in their graduation gowns popped up, and McDonald said he and Carlson messaged each other. “He told me he missed me,” McDonald said.

“Nathan was very friendly, he brightened everyone up,” McDonald said.

Both the U.S. Flag and the State of Wyoming flag have been ordered to fly at half-mast as the state mourns the loss of one of their own who was aboard the Osprey.

The Marine has been identified as Seth Rasmuson from Buffalo, Wy., he graduated from Buffalo High School in 2019.

“We are deeply saddened to learn today about the death of one of Wyoming’s U.S. Marines, Seth Rasmuson,” U.S. Sen. John Barrasso said. “There is certainly more to learn about what happened yesterday, and much more we need to hear about his life and service to our country. Today, we mourn this tragic loss.”

Rasmuson grew up in a small town with a population of just under 5,000 people. He loved Wyoming’s wide-open spaces and its vast terrain and spent a lot of time outdoors with his family, including four brothers, his father, Curtis Rasmuson, said.

“He grew up hunting, fishing and camping,” he said.

And, Rasmuson had a mission to become a Marine,  his father said. By his senior year of high school, Rasmuson had earned enough credits to graduate early and enlisted right after his 18th birthday.

His father said other service branches showed an interest in him and offered him incentives to compete with the Marine Corps, but his son wasn’t interested.

Curtis Rasmuson said his son was excited to go into aviation and thought it was a “cool” opportunity. To do so, he had to get additional training and went to schools in Florida and Maine.

“He loved flying and he talked about doing something in aviation when he got out,” Curtis Rasmuson said. The Marine was just a year short of his five-year military contract.

Seth Rasmuson also talked about flying in the Osprey and explained to his father how the aircraft worked. Oftentimes, he’d check in with his family when he flew. Especially when he deployed to the Middle East.

“He’d call from there and tell us about how many countries he’d been to,” his father said.

Just a few weeks ago, Seth Rasmuson visited for his younger brother’s high school graduation.

He also leaves behind his wife, who was his high school sweetheart, and their 7-month-old baby boy.

The Marines were conducting aerial gunnery training on ranges in the Imperial Valley and at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. It is unclear if the Osprey was heading to or from the base at the time of the accident.

Equipment recovery efforts have begun and an investigation is underway, said Maj. Mason Englehart, a spokesman with the aircraft wing.

That effort has its own challenges. The terrain is extremely soft and sandy, making it difficult for cars and trucks to access. It is more than 10 miles from the nearest city.

“The incident occurred in a military bombing range which raises safety concerns for recovery vehicles due to the debris in the area,” said Kate Miyamoto, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Land Management, which is assisting the military with the recovery.

Shortly after the crash, the Naval Air Facility El Centro reported a downed aircraft in the vicinity of Coachella Canal Road and Highway 78. Local emergency responders assisted the military with the incident, officials said.

This is the second deadly accident with an Osprey this year. Four Marines from the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, were killed in March when their aircraft went down during a training exercise in Norway.

Ospreys are tiltrotor aircraft and can fly faster and longer than a helicopter. But, like a helicopter, they can also hover.

Ospreys are flown by the Marines, Navy and the Air Force, and were used in combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

There are two osprey squadrons at Camp Pendleton and five at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego.

Accidents plagued the Osprey in the aircraft’s early years after it was put into operation by the Pentagon in 2007, but after more work on the aircraft, it became a go-to for transporting troops.

More recently, in 2014, an Osprey was accidentally started in “maintenance mode” and its engines lost power dropping it into the Arabian Sea before pilots could regain control, a crew chief was lost at sea.

In 2015, two Marines died during a “hard landing” while training in Hawaii; two others were injured.  And in 2017, three Marines died when their aircraft crashed off Queensland, Australia. The Osprey crashed after launching from the USS Bonhomme Richard during routine operations.

There have also been two other recent aviation accidents in Southern California with tragic outcomes.

In August, five sailors died when the MH-60S Seahawk helicopter they were training in fell off the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln as it landed. An investigation released in May said a damaged hose funneling hydraulic fluid to the aircraft’s rotor malfunctioned.

And, in August 2020, two Army soldiers, one from San Bernardino, were killed when their Blackhawk helicopter went down on San Clemente Island.  Three others were injured.

A Riverside Transit Agency bus driver was hospitalized Wednesday, June 8, after being attacked by a homeless person, the Riverside Police Department said.

The driver suffered minor injuries, said Brad Weaver, an RTA spokesman.

The attack happened at about 2:45 p.m. at University and Brockton avenues. No motive for the assault was announced.

“It appears the suspect who is homeless walked up to a female bus driver who was standing outside her bus and assaulted her,” said Officer Ryan Railsback, a Police Department spokesman. “Security was able to intervene and help detain the suspect.”

The attack happened on Route 22, which runs between Riverside and Perris.

A driver who may have been fleeing the scene of a traffic collision in Rialto died after running a red light and getting into a second crash that injured one other person Wednesday, June 8.

Daniel Montano, 42, of Rialto, was behind the wheel of a red Toyota Tacoma that ran a red light at Riverside Avenue and Country Club Drive at about 3:11 p.m., Rialto police said in a news release. The truck slammed into another vehicle and flipped over.

Both Montano and the woman driving the other vehicle were alone at the time of the crash, police said. She was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.  The driver of the pickup died at the scene.

A preliminary investigation indicates that Montano was fleeing from another crash that took place minutes before he drove through a red light, police said. Evidence at the scene suggested he may have been under the influence of alcohol at the time.

Rialto police were looking into the matter. They asked anyone with information about the crashes to contact Traffic Sergeant Dan Smith at 909-644-6025. Tips can also be left anonymously through WeTip at 800-782-7463.

The man charged with murder in what authorities say was a drunken-driving collision in Ontario was returned to jail on Monday, June 6, when a San Bernardino County Superior Court judge revoked his bail.

Ryan Cavender Wicks, 39, of Rancho Cucamonga, had posted $1.1 million bail when he was arrested on March 31 following his arrest after the crash on the northbound 15 Freeway near Jurupa Avenue that killed Gary Boeldt II, 52, of Oceanside.

But in court on Monday, the District Attorney’s Office successfully argued over the objection of Wicks’ attorney that Wicks be held without bail. A bail review hearing was scheduled for June 14.

“We filed that motion based on our conclusion that the defendant is a danger to the community,” Jacquelyn Rodriguez, a DA’s spokeswoman, wrote in an email. “Our argument included multiple facts regarding defendant Wicks, including his prior conviction for DUI along with knowledge of the dangerousness of his actions, yet he still proceeded to drink throughout the day and drive at speeds that were highly dangerous and indicated a high disregard for human life.”

Wicks is being held at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

Wicks has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder and one count of DUI causing injury. The DA’s Office brought the murder charge partly because of WIcks’ 2005 DUI conviction in which he signed a so-called Watson advisement in which he was warned that drunken driving can injure or kill people and that the advisement could be used against him in court,

The DA’s Office has described Wicks as the co-owner of Wicks Brewery in Riverside. Brewery officials say he has no ownership role.

Even though he could afford to move out, Whittier Police Officer Lanell Whitfield lived in the Lynwood home he grew up in with his grandmother, his family said, so he could help her with chores and maintenance.

He had just picked up his motorcycle from the shop on Saturday afternoon, June 4, and was on his way home to change clothes and attend a family gathering in Carson when he crashed in the 3900 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard.

The 25-year-old off-duty police officer died as a result of blunt force trauma, according to Los Angeles County Coroner’s officials.

 

Investigators ruled Whitfield’s death an accident. Relatives said they were relieved he did not die because of violence in the line of duty.

“We are at peace because he lived such a full life,” Rodrick Whitfield Jr., his 33-year-old brother, said through tears. “He really lived.”

Whitfield is survived by his parents, three sisters, three brothers and numerous aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. They described him as dependable, determined and kind. His father, Rodrick Lanell Whitfield Sr., 56, called him a “go-getter.”

“If he said he was going to do something, he would make it happen,” Whitfield’s father said. “And he excelled at everything he did.”

Even as a child, Whitfield was easy to get along with and made many friends, his sister, Kalia Whitfield, 29, said. He loved to tinker and learn with his hands.

“We were looking at pictures and there was one of him, 3-years-old, this bike with training wheels, and he’s holding a wrench,” Whitfield’s brother said. “Before we knew it, those training wheels were gone.”

He developed a passion for cars, and eventually bought a Corvette Z06 that he customized over the years, relatives said. Friend Josh Gonzalez said he was fearless and competitive on the track, but didn’t cut corners when it came to safety on the road. He also enjoyed skateboarding, played soccer, dabbled as a model, and had recently learned to play guitar, his sister said.

“At some point in the pandemic, he told us he was going to record an album,” Kalia Whitfield said. “Then, just a couple of weeks later he’s sending us Spotify tracks.”

Whitfield was inspired by the example of his grandfather, a retired LAPD lieutenant, the Whittier officer’s father said. The Lynwood native was a former police explorer and had been a part of his local Reserve Officer’s Training Corps program. So few were surprised when Lanell Whitfield chose a life of service in law enforcement.

He graduated from the University of La Verne and joined the Whittier police department in October 2021 after two years as a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He worked patrol in Whittier.

“This tragic and sudden loss has been very difficult for our law enforcement family, ” Whittier Police Chief Aviv Bar said in a statement on Monday. “In a very short time, Lanell developed a strong bond with his fellow police officers and with the community that he enjoyed serving each day, a testament to his character, commitment, and friendly personality. He truly loved and enjoyed being a police officer.”

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Traffic Services Detail is investigating the crash but has not released any details about it.

The Peace Officers Research Association of California and the Whittier Police Officers’ Association created a memorial fund to help the officer’s family with funeral expenses.

“As we grieve this terrible loss, our thoughts and prayers are with Lanell’s family, his many law enforcement partners and friends, and the community he protected,”  Bar said.