TUSTIN, CA – A 62-year-old man was killed Sunday morning when his vehicle was struck by a DUI suspect who was fleeing from police, the Orange County Register reports.
Police in Tustin received reports of an unresponsive driver in the drive-thru of a restaurant in the 2800 block of Park Avenue at about 8:45 a.m. on April 18. That driver—later identified as Pedro Pantoja, Jr., 29—sped off when he saw an officer arrive on the scene. Pantoja headed north on Jamboree Road, making it about 300 yards before he slammed into a car north of Warner Avenue.
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The driver of the other vehicle died at the scene. He was later identified as 62-year-old Orange resident David Kawashima.
Pantoja and a female passenger of the vehicle he hit were taken to a nearby hospital with unspecified injuries.
Police determined that the car Pantoja had been driving was stolen.
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