Local News in Brief : Driver Charged With Manslaughter in Crash

A driver who sped through a red light in Reseda and whose vehicle broadsided another car, killing three people, including an 11-month-old infant, was charged Thursday with three counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

Gregory M. Michael, 22, of Los Angeles, who has been free on $2,500 bail since the Oct. 27 accident, is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. today in Van Nuys Municipal Court.

Los Angeles police said Michael ran a red light at Victory Boulevard and White Oak Avenue while traveling in excess of 60 m.p.h. Police said Michael’s car hit another car, killing Benjamin Rochel, 84; his wife, Ashraf, 71, both of Beverly Hills, and their grandson, Jonathan Rochel of Reseda.

The infant’s mother, Fereshteh Rochel, 27, who was driving, suffered a broken hip and several broken ribs. She was hospitalized at Northridge Hospital Medical Center until last week, authorities said.

About 500 friends of the victims signed a letter asking the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office to consider charging Michael with second-degree murder.

However, Deputy Dist. Atty. Larry Diamond said evidence in the fatal accident did not support a second-degree murder charge.

“You would have to show implied malice” on Michael’s part, Diamond said. “We didn’t feel the evidence showed that.”