Camaro driver arrested in Raleigh street-racing crash that killed other driver, injured 2

Raleigh police on Tuesday arrested a man they say was racing another driver on Atlantic Avenue last week when the other driver slammed into a third car and was killed.

Manuel Antonio Cerrone, 30, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, felony hit and run causing serious injury or death, and misdemeanor death by vehicle, according to a Raleigh Police Department news release.

Police believe Cerrone was driving a 2020 Chevrolet Camaro that struck a tree and that he fled the scene, the release stated.

Here is what police say happened.

Just before 4:30 a.m. March 7, William Ortiz, 33, was driving a 2019 Mercedes Benz E 300 northbound on Atlantic Avenue. A man now believed to be Cerrone was driving the Camaro, also heading north on Atlantic Avenue.

Meanwhile, a woman with a child passenger was driving a 2009 Chevrolet Traverse south on Atlantic Avenue.

Investigators believe Ortiz and Cerrone were racing when Ortiz veered into the lane the Traverse was in and struck it head-on on Atlantic Avenue near East Six Forks Road.

The Camaro also veered into the southbound lanes, left the road and hit a tree. The driver of the Camaro then fled, according to police

The driver and passenger in the Traverse suffered serious injuries and were taken to a hospital, the release stated.

Ortiz died from his injuries in the crash, police said.

The News & Observer has contacted Raleigh police for more information, including whether the Traverse driver and her passenger have been released from the hospital.