3 Killed in Violent Valinda Crash Involving Suspected DUI Driver

VALINDA, Calif., Jan. 15 (KNN) — A violent crash involving two vehicles and a suspected DUI driver left three dead late Tuesday night.

California Highway Patrol officers from the Baldwin Park Area office are investigating a triple fatality at the intersection of North Azusa Avenue and East Temple Avenue in the city of Valinda.

The female driver of a 2023 Jeep Wrangler T-boned a vehicle at the intersection, which left three people dead.

Sgt. Daniel Keene, a spokesperson for the CHP Southern Division, said the driver of the Jeep was traveling southbound on Azusa Avenue approaching Temple Avenue while intoxicated and at a high rate of speed. The other vehicle, a 2018 Nissan Versa driven by a resident of La Puente, was traveling westbound at an unknown speed on Temple at Azusa with two additional occupants.

The Jeep ran a red light at the intersection, violently colliding with the right side of the Nissan. The force of the impact caused the Nissan to spin in a southwest direction, where its right side collided with a metal pole. According to Keene, the Jeep also traveled in the same direction, where it ultimately overturned.

As a result of the collision, all three occupants inside the Nissan sustained fatal injuries, and the driver of the Jeep, identified as Ms. Flores Magana by the CHP, “sustained complaint of pain injuries,” said Keene.

Two of the occupants were pronounced deceased at the scene, and the third one was pronounced deceased at the hospital, according to authorities at the scene at the time of the incident.

Authorities arrested the Jeep’s driver for driving under the influence. The names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Anyone with information regarding this collision is encouraged to contact Officer J. Phillip at the Baldwin Park Area office at (626) 338-1164.

Randy Dominguez, Video Journalist / KNN