Local News in Brief : Unused Baby Seat Found in Fatal Crash
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An 11-month-old boy who died in a Reseda auto crash along with his grandparents probably would have survived had he been riding in an infant seat found empty but intact in the wreckage, police said Friday.
The three were killed when their auto was broadsided by a Los Angeles man who sped through a red light on Victory Boulevard at White Oak Avenue on Thursday afternoon. The driver, Gregory Masterson Michael, 22, was booked for manslaughter and released on $2,500 bond.
Witnesses said Michael had been driving at high speeds and changing lanes erratically for several blocks before the fatal collision. He was treated and released for minor injuries.
The dead were Benjamin Rochel, 84, of Beverly Hills, his wife, Ashraf, 71, and their grandson, Jonathan Rochel, according to Los Angeles Police Detective Don Bellante.
The infant’s mother, Fereshteh Rochel, 27, of Reseda was driving the car. She suffered cuts and was admitted for observation to AMI Tarzana Regional Medical Center.
“If the infant had been in the seat properly strapped in, it is my opinion it would have survived or suffered at most minor injuries,” Bellante said.
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