Police may never know who was at fault on June 4 collision

DOWNEY – Police have no independent eyewitnesses in the June 4 double-fatal collision, and detectives may never find out who was at fault.

Lt. Dean Milligan said police still don’t know who ran a red light during the 3 a.m. crash at Old River School and Stewart and Gray roads.

A truck driven by Downey resident Raul Chavez Jr., 22, broadsided a compact being driven by Claudia Ferrer, who was 42.

Both drivers died later that morning at St. Francis Medical Center.

Police initially thought alcohol may have played a role in the collision because Chavez’s truck contained empty alcohol containers and it smelled like alcohol.  But a coroner’s report released Wednesday found that neither driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

An expert who reconstructed the crash scene estimated Chavez was driving about 56 mph and that Ferrer was driving about 41 mph, according to Milligan.