Local News in Brief : Driver, 24, Killed After His Car Skids in Rain
Amotorist driving through the rain on a Van Nuys street Wednesday was killed when his car slammed into two parked trucks and a telephone pole, Los Angeles police said Thursday.
John F. Darragh, 24, a Sherman Oaks dispatcher for an ambulance company, was fatally injured in the 11:10 p.m. accident on Vanowen Street near Woodley Avenue, Officer Kevin Coppin said.
Darragh was driving a small foreign car east on Vanowen Street at about 50 m.p.h. in moderate to heavy rain when he attempted to switch lanes, police said. His car skidded and struck the two trucks, parked at the side of the street, and then crashed into the telephone pole, Coppin said. The trucks were unoccupied.
Darragh was pronounced dead at Northridge Hospital Medical Center.
Coppin said investigators listed drunk driving as a possible cause of the accident because emergency room personnel who treated Darragh reported that he had a strong odor of alcohol. An investigation is continuing.
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