Santa Paula Man, 23, Killed in Crash
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A 23-year-old Santa Paula man was killed early Sunday when the car he was riding in smashed into a pole at Central and Vineyard avenues in Oxnard.
Gabriel Morones was declared dead about 12:30 a.m. at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard. He died of abdominal injuries, according to the Ventura County coroner’s office.
Morones was sitting in the front passenger seat when the car’s driver, whom the California Highway Patrol identified as Anthony Villarreal, 23, of Santa Paula drove into the pole.
Villarreal, who was not injured, and another passenger, 26-year-old Joel Aguirre, also of Santa Paula, abandoned the car and somehow made it to Santa Paula, where they turned themselves in at the Police Department about 1:30 a.m., according to the CHP.
Santa Paula police turned the case over to CHP officials, who arrested Villarreal on felony driving under the influence and hit-and-run charges. He was taken to Ventura County Jail.
Aguirre received minor injuries and was treated and released from Ventura County Medical Center. He was not charged.
Morones is survived by his parents, Jesus and Laura Morones of Santa Paula.
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