LOS ANGELES – A 39-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly driving the wrong way down a one-way street in downtown Los Angeles while drunk and slamming into two pedestrians, killing one of them, authorities said Saturday.
At about 11:40 p.m. Friday, a silver Lexus IS200t was going westbound on Ninth Street — which is an eastbound one-way street — and struck two men who were crossing in a marked crosswalk at the intersection of Ninth and Olive streets, the Los Angeles Police Department reported.
“The impact of the collision caused both pedestrians to be catapulted into the air and land on the street,” police said. “The driver of the Lexus continued to drive westbound and crashed head-on with another vehicle, which was waiting at a red light at the opposite side of the intersection.”
The Lexus was unable to leave the scene after hitting a passenger vehicle and then a tractor trailer. The motorist then placed the car in reverse, but was stymied by a “community member” who blocked the path with his vehicle, police said. Other bystanders kept the motorist at the scene until police arrived.
Paramedics rushed the two pedestrians to a hospital, where one of them, a 36-year-old man, died from his injuries. The second pedestrian, a 32- year-old man, suffered severe, but non-life-threatening injuries.
Joseph Hansen Madarang of Los Angeles was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving. Madarang was being held in lieu of $130,000 bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, authorities said.
LAPD Central Traffic detectives urged anyone with information about the accident to call them at 213-833-3713 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
