Los Angeles resident Philip Ruiz Jr., 20, has been identified by authorities as the man killed Friday on the 10 Freeway in Santa Monica in an accident caused by a suspected drunk wrong-way driver, according to reports.
KCAL9 reports Friday was the victim’s birthday.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the fatal accident occurred at 1:15 am Friday morning on the 10 Freeway just inside Santa Monica city limits.
According to reports, the suspected drunk driver in a 2005 Pontiac GTO, who has been identified as 23-year-old Hawthorne resident Jaime Herrera, was driving by himself east in the westbound lanes when he collided head-on with a 1997 Ford Taurus, which Ruiz Jr. and several friends were in.
The CHP said the Taurus was then struck by another suspected drunk driver in a 2012 Hyundai Sonata, with the driver identified as Kenneth Weimer of Anaheim.
The CHP said Ruiz was ejected from the rear passenger seat, which caused fatal injuries; the driver of the Taurus, 18-year-old Edgar Quiroz of Los Angeles, sustained a fractured arm.
Both Herrera and Weimer are under arrest on suspicion of drunk driving; Herrera is still hospitalized with a suspected fractured spine.
