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| Pregnant woman among 3 killed in Eagle Rock crash; street racing blamed
Quote:
By Tami Abdollah and Jia-Rui Chong, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
11:01 AM PDT, August 28, 2008
» Discuss Article (18 Comments)
An illegal street race Wednesday night in Eagle Rock killed three people, including a pregnant woman and a 12 year-old girl, and severed limbs from two men after their car slammed into a tree and burst into flames, police said.
A 19-year-old man who was driving a Mitsubishi involved in the crash was in custody this morning, Los Angeles police Officer Kate Lopez said today. He was uninjured. A police spokeswoman earlier said the man had been booked on suspicion of murder, but police now say he is still be interviewed.
* Pregnant woman among 3 killed in Eagle Rock crash; street racing blamed
Pregnant woman among 3 killed in Eagle...
* Scene of wreck
Scene of wreck
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3 killed, 5 hurt in crash in El Monte
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Teen lives with tragic end of street race
Police are searching today for another driver they believe was involved in street racing but who fled after the crash, Lopez said.
The crash occurred at Highland View Avenue and Colorado Boulevard about 10:30 p.m. A witness said he saw the Mitsubishi hit a Nissan Maxima, which police believe also was involved in racing. The Nissan, with five people inside, then slammed into a tree on Colorado Boulevard's median and caught fire, Lopez said.
Three men who were ejected from the Nissan landed in the street: a 20-year-old man, who died at the scene; a man whose hand and leg were severed, and another man whose leg was severed at the hip. The two survivors were taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena and are listed in critical condition, said LAPD Officer April Harding, another department spokeswoman.
Inside the Nissan was the 12-year-old girl, who was in the back seat, and the 23-year-old late-term pregnant woman, who was found dead in the driver's seat, Harding said.
Los Angeles County coroner's officials said they did not have identifications on the deceased yet.
Colorado Boulevard was closed for about eight hours and officers were still on the scene today as morning traffic rolled over glass and plastic parts from the cars. The tree that the Nissan had hit had blood and scraped bark left on it, and the car looked like a crushed soda can as it was towed away.
John Chavez, 38, who lives nearby, said he heard a "loud thump" at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, went outside and saw "blood and debris everywhere." He saw a "torso" in the middle of the street, another person on the pavement screaming for help, and a woman stuck in the twisted wreckage.
"It was the worst accident I've ever seen," Chavez said. "It was carnage."
Daniel Gutierrez, 54, a homeless man who was sleeping a block up the street, said he awoke when he heard "a boom, like an explosion" as the Mitsubishi hit the Nissan. The Nissan careened out of control, fishtailing in the street and hitting the tree, where it exploded in flames, he said.
"I went over there, but it was too late," Gutierrez said.
The Mitsubishi drove farther up the street, made a U-turn around the center divider and stopped nearby, he said. Someone got out to help, but it was too late, he said.
Martha Emery, 50, who lives behind a gas station on Highland View Avenue, was going to bed when she heard a huge crash, the sound of an explosion and skidding. She ran out of her home and saw the Mitsubishi driving in the wrong direction slowly down the south sidewalk, where it hit a lamp post before it came to a stop.
"Some car was wrapped around the tree," Emery said. "As I approached it on the street, there was a body motionless. I knew he was dead."
She saw the severed body of a man. A woman, whom she didn't initially see, was crumpled in what looked to be a "pile of rubble." And then she heard moaning.
"I didn't want to get that close, but I saw there were some legs left in the car and I looked, and the other half of them was on the street."
Her 9-year-old daughter, Dakota Emery, had run out of the house behind her, and went back to get her dad, Frank Emery, 61.
"I'm scared Dad," she told him. "I'm really sorry I saw it. I'm never going to drive."
"These things happen, you're going to drive," he said to her. "But be careful."
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THis is really sad, But I wonder. Why was a Prego racing in the first place with 4 others in the car.  |