Driver in Porter Ranch car crash that killed two teens will face charges, police say
An 18-year-old woman faces a criminal homicide charge in a single-car crash that killed another teen and injured another driver in Porter Ranch, police said Monday.
The woman, identified as Carla Hernandez, faces a count of felony child abuse in the fatal head-on collision that killed the 18-year-old driver, and as a result of the crash, the 18-year-old was run over and killed by a van in a parking lot at the corner of Main and Spring streets, police said.
The other driver was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and was later released, police said.
“The young woman and 18-year-old driver are deceased in this crash,” said Lt. Brian Moore, officer-in-charge of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department’s traffic unit.
Hernandez was facing a charge of felony child abuse for physically abusing the 18-year-old, Moore said.
The investigation started on Saturday night when a passer-by noticed damage to a parked van in the parking lot of Country Mart, located off of Highway 99, near the corner of Spring and Main streets, Moore said.
The passer-by called 911, who dispatched the department’s K-9 unit, but it was too late by the time deputies arrived, Moore said.
The crash occurred shortly after 4 p.m. in the parking lot. Both drivers had been at the same party, Moore said.
“The party was located at the rear of the property and there was a lot of fighting and alcohol on both sides,” he said.
According to the investigation, a fight broke out at the party, and one of the suspects, a male, jumped over a fence and went toward the other side of the street, Moore said.
That individual was followed and then allegedly struck a van. When the suspect saw the police approaching, he threw a bottle at the cops, Moore said.
“At
