Man In Custody After Crashing SUV Into LA Home, Killing 1

BALDWIN HILLS, CA — A 26-year-old man was arrested after he reportedly rear-ended a police car, sped away and crashed into a Baldwin Hills home Saturday, killing an 86-year-old woman and critically injuring a man inside. The crash also severed a natural gas line.

Rescue crews arrived on the 3900 block of South Buckingham Road around 1:23 a.m., where two elderly people were trapped inside their home after a vehicle plowed into it, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.

Moments earlier, officers in a marked patrol car were rear ended by the SUV at Hobart and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards. After exiting their patrol car, officers attempted to approach the SUV, but the driver fled northbound on Western Avenue in the vehicle.

Officers trailed the SUV as it went westbound on 39th Street, approached Buckingham Road and tried to make a southbound turn, where it drove off the roadway and crashed into the northeast corner of a residence, trapping two elderly people.

Two Los Angeles Police officers, who arrived to assist firefighters in freeing the residents, sustained minor injuries, but they declined to go to the hospital, Humphrey said.

The 86-year-old, Aida Villavicencio, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said, and a second victim inside, a man, was rushed to an area hospital in critical condition with head trauma.

The SUV driver, Eliseo Ixchopcalel, was taken to a hospital with non- life-threatening injuries, Humphrey said.

Ixchopcalel was arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter. The police officers suffered minor injuries but declined to be taken to a hospital.

No fire was reported but SoCal Gas arrived to secure the natural gas leak.
No other injuries were reported.

Anyone with information regarding either crash was urged to call the LAPD at 877-527-3247 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

The City News Service contributed to this report.