Richmond Police investigators have arrested and charged a man with driving under the influence in connection with a fatal crash this morning.
At approximately 12:37 a.m. today, an officer witnessed a crash at the intersection of 2nd and Canal streets. Based on the Department’s Crash Team investigation, they determined that Varinder Chahal, 23, of Springfield, was driving a 2004 Mazda 6 westbound on Canal Street when he ran a red light.
His vehicle T-boned a 2007 Toyota Yaris traveling northbound on 2nd Street. The Yaris then spun around and struck a nearby building. A back seat passenger in the Yaris, Carolina Perez, 19, of Virginia Beach, was taken to VCU Medical Center with life-threatening injuries and died a few hours later.
The 19-year-old driver of the Yaris and 20-year-old front seat passenger were also admitted to VCU Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
Chahal has been charged with driving under the influence, refusal to submit to a blood or breath test and felony manslaughter. Four other passengers in his vehicle were not injured.
