Crime & Safety

Updated: Authorities Release Identity of Pasadena Man Killed in ACH Wreck

A CHP officer described weather conditions as overcast and foggy, and said the man was 21 years old.

Updated 3:20 p.m: Authorities identified the man killed in the Angeles Crest Highway wreck early Friday morning as Julio Cesar Velasquez. A spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Coroner said the cause of death had not yet been determined, and that toxicology tests would take multiple weeks. 

Updated 9:09 a.m.: Alcohol is being investigated as a possible contributor to the fatal Angeles Crest Highway accident early Friday morning, authorities said.

Just after 3 a.m., a 21-year-old Pasadena man drove his 2007 Honda westbound on the Crest, lost control and traveled in a northeasterly direction until he slammed into an ascending embankment and crashed into a tree, according to the CHP. It is unclear whether he had to be cut out of the car, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Find out what's happening in La Cañada Flintridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The fatal wreck happened one week after state transportation officials reopened the sinuous 7-mile stretch of highway between La Cañada Flintridge and Angeles Forest Highway. It had been closed for a year and a half after the 2009 Station Fire.

Earlier: A man in his 20s died early today in a vehicle crash on Angeles Crest Highway, authorities said.

Find out what's happening in La Cañada Flintridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

California Highway Patrol Officer Francisco Villalobos told Patch Friday the crash occurred south of Dark Canyon Truck Trail about 4:05 a.m., about two miles from the ranger station, near La Cañada Flintridge.

Villalobos said that the victim was found dead at the scene, where he said Los Angeles County firefighters described  heavy fog in the mountainous area. It appears to be a solo-vehicle crash where the vehicle crashed into a mountain side or a tree, Villalobos said. Coroner's investigators were called to the scene and have taken the body to the medical examiner's office, Villalobos said.

It was unclear how the crash happened and if other people were trapped in the vehicle. CHP is still investigating.

Check back to LCF Patch for more infomation on this story.


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