Driver Charged in Fatal Chase
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VENTURA — A suspected drunk driver was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday in the death of a Bakersfield teen-ager during a high-speed chase last weekend.
Antonio De La Cruz Morales, 21, was being held on $1-million bail in the Ventura County Jail. During a brief appearance Wednesday in Ventura County Municipal Court, Morales was assigned a public defender and his arraignment was postponed until next Wednesday.
Morales was arrested after he crashed his pickup truck into the rear of a van just before midnight Friday between Ventura and Santa Paula, the California Highway Patrol said. The crash occurred as CHP officers were chasing the suspect at speeds exceeding 100 m.p.h., investigators said.
Victoria Lee Gonzales, 16, sleeping in the back of the van, was thrown onto the pavement and run over by a vehicle, possibly Morales’ truck, investigators said. She died shortly afterward.
Morales and a passenger only sustained scrapes.
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