VENTURA, Calif. - Authorities say a U.S. Coast Guard member was killed and another was injured when their small boat was rammed by a smuggler's vessel before dawn off the Southern California coast.
Ventura County chief deputy medical examiner James Baroni says 34-year-old Terrell Horne III of Redondo Beach was pronounced dead early Sunday at the Port of Hueneme (why-NEEM-mee).
The second man was treated for minor injuries. His name wasn't released.
The Coast Guard says the smuggler's panga manoeuvred at a high rate of speed directly at the small boat before fleeing. Both Coast Guard members were thrown into the water.
Two suspects on the panga were detained.
The small boat was deployed by the Coast Guard cutter Halibut, which was conducting an investigation into suspected smuggling near the Channel Islands west of Malibu.
