By Daily Press staff
LOS ANGELES The 24-year-old man who crashed head-on into another vehicle early Wednesday morning — killing a Hollywood director and his son, a student at Santa Monica College — pleaded not guilty Friday to two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
Hector Velazquez-Nava, a native of Mexico, was driving a GMC Yukon at approximately 2:20 a.m. Wednesday on PCH between Sunset Boulevard and Temescal Canyon Road in the Pacific Palisades when it drifted into oncoming traffic, striking a 1997 Infiniti Q30 driven by director Robert Clark.
Clark, 67, of the Pacific Palisades, and his son, Ariel Hanrath-Clark, 22, of Santa Monica, were killed in the crash.
Clark is best known for directing the holiday classic “A Christmas Story,” as well as writing, directing and producing the teen cult films “Porky’s” and “Porky’s II: The Next Day.” His son was a musician at SMC who had written several compositions for the college’s jazz ensemble.
Both Velazquez-Nava and his passenger, Lydia Mora, 20, of Azusa, were treated at a hospital for minor injuries following the crash, police said.
Velazquez-Nava’s blood-alcohol level was allegedly three times the legal limit of 0.8 during the collision on the Pacific Coast Highway, according to reports.
Police also said the suspect had neither documentation of legal U.S. residency nor a California driver’s license.
Velazquez-Nava could face at least 12 years in prison if convicted. He is scheduled to return to court May 7, according to reports.
His bail was set at $200,000. Even if Velazquez-Nava were to make bail, reports said he would be ineligible to be released on bond because he is in the country illegally.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 7, 2007. Read the original PDF.