Crime & Safety

Man Pleads Not Guilty in Fatal Van Nuys Crash

Prosecutors allege that Edward Lamont Powe III, 24, was speeding when he lost control of a Ford Focus.

By City News Service

A Van Nuys man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a charge of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated for a crash in the Van Nuys area that killed his 19-year-old girlfriend.

Prosecutors allege that Edward Lamont Powe III, 24, was speeding when he lost control of a Ford Focus that crashed into a light pole near Roscoe Boulevard and Hayvenhurst Avenue about 12:30 a.m. Dec. 30.

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Powe and his girlfriend, Jennifer Benga, were trapped inside the vehicle and had to be freed by firefighters.  She was later pronounced dead of her injuries.

Powe is jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail.

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