A Norwalk man was sentenced Monday to eight years and eight months in state prison stemming from a DUI crash in Long Beach that killed his passenger and injured six other people, including himself.
Mario Raphael Medrano, now 32, pleaded no contest last week to one felony count each of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence of a drug causing injury in connection with the Sept. 29, 2020, crash on Pacific Coast Highway south of Loynes Drive.
Joe De Lucas, 30, of Los Angeles, died at the scene. Six other people were taken to area hospitals, police said.
Medrano was driving a 2015 Nissan Altima south on PCH “at a high rate of speed” when he “swerved into oncoming traffic, striking a 1994 Nissan truck driven by a 63-year-old resident of Long Beach,” according to a statement released by the Long Beach Police Department shortly after the crash.
“The Nissan Altima continued southbound in the northbound lanes of Pacific Coast Highway, striking a 2010 Toyota Prius, which was traveling northbound Pacific Coast Highway, driven by a 58-year-old resident of Long Beach,” police said. “This impact caused the Prius to be pushed into the southbound lanes of Pacific Coast Highway and (it) was then struck by a 2008 Honda Pilot traveling southbound Pacific Coast Highway.”
Deputy District Attorney Brittany Vannoy said Medrano subsequently admitted that he had used a can of inhalant that is intended for cleaning dust from computer keyboards. Medrano was arrested that day by Long Beach police and has remained behind bars since then, according to jail records.
