DUI suspect arrested after losing control in race, crashing into building

RANCHO PALOS VERDES (CNS) - Three people escaped with minor injuries when a suspected drunken motorist racing another driver in Rancho Palos Verdes lost control of his car Sunday and smashed into a one-story commercial building under construction, which caught fire.

The motorist in the crash was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.

The other motorist, driving a silver Ford Mustang, fled the scene. The first motorist and his two passengers were rushed to an area hospital with minor injuries, according to Lt. John Burcher of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Lomita station.

The two cars were racing northbound on Hawthorne Boulevard, just north of Silver Spur Road, when one of the vehicles went off road and plowed into a single-story commercial building under construction, which caught fire, Burcher said.

Firefighters and paramedics dispatched at 3:21 a.m. to 4 Peninsula Center came upon a well-involved structure fire, according to a county fire department dispatcher.

Burcher would not release the age or name of the driver.