A driver was killed and his passenger injured after his SUV slammed into a church in South Los Angeles, authorities said.
The crash took place shortly after midnight Saturday morning, when the driver — a man in his 40s — was heading west on Manchester Avenue, according to Norma Eisenman, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department.
The vehicle struck a light pole and then the building, causing the driver to be ejected, Eisenman said. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and his injured passenger was taken to a hospital, she said.
The collision caused major damage to Challenge of Faith Church of God in Christ, on Manchester just west of Central Avenue.
David Jessie, an assistant pastor at the church, told KTLA-TV that cars have crashed into the church before — a situation he attributed to dangerous road conditions on Manchester. Church leaders have previously asked city leaders to do something about a nearby dip in the road, he said.
“We have been through this so many times,” he told the station.
After surveying the damage, the church was yellow-tagged by building inspectors, according to KTLA.