The suspected drunken driver who police said struck a vehicle carrying three Georgia firefighters, killing one of them and injuring the other two near Marina Del Rey, was being held at a Los Angeles jail Wednesday in lieu of a $100,000 bond.
The three-vehicle collision happened around 10 p.m. Monday at the intersection of Ocean Avenue and Washington Boulevard, said Lt. Joseph Sanchez of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Division.
Ron Herens, 23, of Powder Springs died at the scene, said coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter. Herens was a passenger in the vehicle, Winter said.
Herens was ejected from the vehicle, Sanchez said. The other two firefighters were taken to hospitals, one for treatment of a possible broken collarbone and hip, and the other for lacerations sustained in the crash, Sanchez said.
The drunken driver, identified by police as 23-year-old Benjamin Albert Seider, was taken into custody on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, Sanchez said. A couple in the third car involved in the accident were not hurt, he added.
Witnesses at the scene told NBC4 that Seider ran a red light at 80 to 100 miles per hour when he crashed into the firefighters’ vehicle.
The firefighters were part of a large group visiting from Georgia on vacation in the Los Angeles area.
