Obituaries

Walker's Death: No Alcohol, Speeds Over 100 mph

Coroner releases results of toxicology test on actor Paul Walker and his race car driver friend, Roger Rodas.


By City News Service

No drugs or alcohol were found in the system of actor Paul Walker or the man driving the car that crashed and killed them both in a fiery accident a little more than a month ago. 

Walker, of The Fast and Furious franchise of films, died from the combined effects of traumatic and thermal injuries and his race car driver friend died of multiple traumatic injuries in a fiery, high-speed crash in Valencia, according to the coroner who revealed the results of toxicology tests on Friday.

Walker, 40, was a passenger in a Porsche Carrera GT that Roger Rodas, 38, was driving in excess of 100 miles per hour when the red sports car slammed into a pole and a tree on Hercules Street at Kelly Johnson Parkway about 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 30, according to the coroner's office.

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"Both deaths have been ruled by the coroner to be accidents," the office reported.

The duo took the 600-horsepower car—previously owned by IndyCar Series driver Graham Rahal, according to Racer Magazine—out for a spin after attending a charity event organized by Walker's Reach Out WorldWide charity, which helps provide relief from natural disasters around the world.

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The car was traveling "at an unsafe speed, approximately 100+ mph in the No. 1 eastbound lane on Hercules Street approaching Constitution," when "for unknown reasons," the driver lost control, according to the coroner's report.

The car partially spun around and hit a curb, then the driver's side of the Porsche struck a tree and then a light post.

"The force of those collisions caused the vehicle to spin 180 degrees and continue in an easterly direction. The passenger side of the vehicle then struck another tree and burst into flames." the report says.

Toxicology tests on Walker and Rodas showed "negative" for alcohol and "not detected" for a number of drugs, including tests for marijuana, cocaine, opiates and methamphetamine.

The autopsies were conducted on Dec. 3, and the toxicology test results were deferred until today.

Rodas and Walker were partners in the Always Evolving racing team, for which Rodas competed in 10 of the 14 rounds of the 2013 Pirelli World Challenge, a sports car series. He drove a GTS class Ford Boss 302s Mustang, and finished as high as fifth at a race in Toronto. He also competed at the Grand Prix of Long Beach where he finished 16th. In 2012 he finished second in the driver's championship of the Pirelli Porsche Driver's Cup.

—Martin Henderson contributed to this story


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