A Los Angeles Police Department sergeant who Orange County prosecutors say struck a 19-year-old pedestrian in Tustin while driving drunk and left the young man to die in the street is now facing felony DUI and hit-and-run charges, authorities said Wednesday.
Carlos Gonzalo Coronel, 40, of Buena Park has also been charged with a felony enhancement for allegedly causing great bodily injury. Coronel previously admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs in 2011, court records show.
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Prosecutors allege that after a night out drinking with his brother-in-law, Coronel at about 3:41 a.m. on Feb. 1, 2025 was driving in his black Chevy Silverado pickup when he struck and killed Imanol Salvador Gonzalez.
Coronel was on his way to his girlfriend’s home, prosecutors say, while Gonzalez was walking in the street near the Nisson Road and Del Amy Avenue intersection. Minutes later, Gonzalez’s body was later discovered lying in the middle of the roadway by two people on their way home from work.
Coronel never called 911, prosecutors say, despite his pickup sustaining significant front-end damage. When his girlfriend drove Coronel back to his Buena Park home, prosecutors say he directed her to avoid the part of Nisson Road where the collision occurred.
Prosecutors also allege that Coronel drove past the crime scene where Tustin officers were investigating Gonzalez’s death without contacting them. And they say Coronel also searched the internet to see if there had been a fatal hit-and-run in Tustin.
Tustin investigators arrested Coronel hours later after identifying him as the registered owner of the pickup suspected of being involved in the collision.
Coronel’s status with the LAPD was not immediately clear. Department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent late Wednesday, after Orange County prosecutors announced the charges.
If convicted as currently charged in connection to the Tustin collision, Coronel faces up to 6 years, 8 months in prison. He has not yet entered a plea, records show, and is next scheduled to appear in court on June 27.
It isn’t the first time Coronel has been accused of driving while inebriated.
In September 2011, Coronel pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor DUI charge and was sentenced to 129 hours of community service. He failed to complete the service, records show, and in December 2012 his probation was revoked.
City News Service contributed to this story.
