Fiery Fairfax Crash: Man Pleads Not Guilty To Manslaughter

Los Angeles CA

05 March, 2021

4:37 PM

Description

LOS ANGELES, CA — A man has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a fiery crash in the Fairfax District that took the life of an innocent driver and hospitalized a sheriff's deputy. Alex Lopez, 28, was charged with one count each of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, assault on a peace officer and fleeing a peace officer's vehicle. Lopez was also charged with two counts of DUI causing injury according to the District Attorney's Office. The deadly crash happened around 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, near Fairfax and Third Street. Deputies were pursuing a silver Chevrolet Malibu when the car crashed into a blue Toyota RAV4, which careened onto the sidewalk and came to a stop pinned between a tree and the wall of a Citi Bank. Jeeves Tangonan, 37, was killed in the crash. The suspect was taken to a hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries. Earlier this week, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said a deputy pulled the suspect over for a traffic stop after he was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The defendant, who was driving a gray Chevrolet Malibu, had been "lane straddling and driving without headlights on during time of darkness," according to a sheriff's department statement. "The person stopped and the deputy got out of his vehicle, made contact with the driver," Villanueva said. "Then the driver struck the [deputy's] vehicle and drove away and fled the scene. That's where the pursuit initiated. And sadly when the suspect fled ... later on down the road there was a fatal traffic [collision]. "Our condolences to the victim's family," he said. "My heart goes out to them, because this person appeared to be under the influence. There was definitely impairment. So we're going through all of our investigative process." City News Service contributed to this report.