The Associated Press
 AP Photo,Mike Meadows Responders inspect the scene of the fatal accident. |
LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. — A trucker whose big rig smashed into several cars and a Los Angeles-area bookstore and left a young girl and her father dead was arrested early Thursday.
Marcos Costa was arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and felony reckless driving after being questioned for much of the night, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Gary Ogurek said.
Costa, 43, was being held on $200,000 bail. Deputies did not know if he had hired an attorney.
The car transporter truck he was driving went out of control at a busy intersection Wednesday and smashed into cars and a bookstore. Twelve people were injured, including three in critical condition. The crash, on a highway that runs through the busy town, left several damaged and overturned vehicles strewn across the pavement.
Los Angeles County coroner Lt. Joe Bale identified the dead as 12-year-old Angelina Posca and her 58-year-old father Angel Jorge Posca, of Palmdale. Their car was pushed through the intersection by the truck and crushed.
The crash occurred during afternoon rush hour when the truck came down the highway out of control, and the driver could not make a sharp turn, Brown said.
City officials said they have complained repeatedly about the intersection to the state Department of Transportation. In September, a semi-truck plowed through a parking lot, destroying seven vehicles and injuring one person, City Manager Mark Alexander said.
After that collision, the city requested that the state prohibit trucks on parts of the highway, post signs to warn trucks about the steep grades and install an escape lane uphill from the intersection. Highway officials and city officials disagreed about where to put the escape lane.
Mayor Laura Olhasso said “we are outraged that our numerous demands to CalTrans ... were ignored.”