LOS ANGELES, CA – A 35-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and other offenses after a four-vehicle crash Friday night in Manhattan Beach that killed a passenger and injured an on-duty police officer, according to the Manhattan Beach Police Department.
The collision happened at about 10:12 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, at Aviation Boulevard and Manhattan Beach Boulevard, police said. The department identified the driver it says caused the crash as Antolin Titus, 35.
Titus was released from a hospital and taken into custody Monday, Oct. 12, police said. He was booked into Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail, and police said bail is above $2 million.
An arrest is not a conviction, and the allegations remain subject to the criminal court process.
Officer saw the first collision
Police said an on-duty Manhattan Beach officer saw the initial collision at the intersection. After that, the officer’s marked patrol vehicle and one more vehicle were struck.
In all, four vehicles were involved, including the police vehicle. The crash happened in the eastbound lanes of Manhattan Beach Boulevard.
Manhattan Beach police and fire personnel responded. When they arrived, they found multiple injured people.
Officer hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries
The officer was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the department. Police did not release the officer’s name or describe the injuries.
Other people were also taken to a hospital. Some of them had critical and serious injuries, according to initial reports.
Passenger killed at the scene
One person was declared dead at the scene, police said. The department said the person was a passenger in one of the vehicles that Titus was not driving.
Police had not released the victim’s identity, and no official identification was available Tuesday. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner determines the cause and manner of death in such cases, and no determination had been announced.
Lane reductions on Manhattan Beach Boulevard
By Saturday morning, Oct. 10, Manhattan Beach Boulevard between Aviation Boulevard and Redondo Avenue was reduced to one open lane in each direction, according to initial reports.
Titus taken into custody after leaving hospital
Police said Titus was taken into custody by Manhattan Beach officers once he left the hospital on Oct. 12. The department said it believes he caused the collision that killed the passenger.
The department’s information on the arrest did not describe what led investigators to conclude that he was impaired or how the crash unfolded beyond the sequence given above.
Booking charges include murder and DUI causing injury
Police said Titus was booked on charges of murder, DUI causing bodily injury, hit-and-run causing death or serious injury, reckless driving, possession of nitrous oxide and driving without a license.
Those are the charges listed at booking. Formal charges are filed by prosecutors, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office had not announced any charges against Titus as of Tuesday.
Traffic safety data for Manhattan Beach
The California Office of Traffic Safety’s 2023 data for Manhattan Beach lists an average population of 34,111 for the city. The page records 98 total fatal and injury collision victims that year, 16 of them in alcohol-involved collisions.
The same page lists 94 DUI arrests in Manhattan Beach in 2023. It also lists 11 hit-and-run collisions and 12 nighttime fatal and injury collisions, the latter defined as those between 9 p.m. and 2:59 a.m.
The figures describe 2023 and do not relate directly to the Oct. 9 crash.
How DUI deaths can lead to murder charges
Murder is a charge California prosecutors can bring in some deaths involving impaired driving. A package of five justice bills sponsored by the District Attorney’s Office and signed into law, announced Oct. 2, explains the legal basis for those charges.
One of the bills, SB 907, known as Braun’s Law, requires that drivers whose DUI charges are reduced be given a Watson advisement. The advisement warns that if they drive impaired again and kill someone, they could face a second-degree murder charge.
The law honors Braun Levi, an 18-year-old Loyola High School student killed in Manhattan Beach in May 2025 by a suspected repeat drunk driver. That was a different case from the Oct. 9 crash, and nothing in the available information connects the two.
Call for information
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Manhattan Beach Police Traffic Officer Gaunt at 310-802-5098.
Titus held in Men’s Central Jail
Titus remains in custody at Men’s Central Jail on bail above $2 million. Police have not released the victim’s identity or the names of the others injured, and no court date had been announced as of Tuesday.
The investigation remains active.
