A Virginia Commonwealth University student was killed and two others injured today in a traffic crash at a downtown Richmond intersection.
Richmond police said an officer witnessed Varinder Chahal, 23, of Springfield, driving a 2004 Mazda 6 westbound on East Canal Street when he ran a red light at South Second Street at 12:37 a.m., T-boning a 2007 Toyota Yaris that was northbound on Second Street. Police said the Yaris spun around and struck a nearby building.
Carolina Perez, 19, of Virginia Beach, a biology major at VCU and a back-seat passenger in the Yaris, was taken to VCU Medical Center, where she died a few hours later, police said. The 19-year-old driver of the Yaris and a 20-year-old front-seat passenger, also both VCU students, were also admitted to the hospital with injuries that police said were not life-threatening.
Chahal was charged with felony manslaughter, driving under the influence and refusal to submit to a blood or breath test.
Police said Chahal and four other passengers in his sedan were not injured.
VCU President Michael Rao this afternoon released a statement to "express tremendous sadness at the tragic loss" of Perez and to wish for a speedy recovery for the injured students.
"Please remember the families of these students at this difficult time," said Rao, adding that grief counseling was available at the university's counseling services office in the Student Commons.
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