Calif. Pursuit Ends in Fiery Crash Leaving Four Dead

Dec. 15, 2013
The Grand Prix being pursued caught fire airborne after striking a Monte Carlo.

Dec. 14--COMPTON -- Four people died after a sheriff's pursuit ended in a two-vehicle collision in Compton early Saturday.

The collision occurred at 12:25 a.m. at the intersection of South Wilmington Avenue and West Greenleaf Boulevard, when one of the vehicles, a red Grand Prix, was being pursued westbound on Greenleaf by Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies, said Lt. Michael Hanneman of the Sheriff's Compton station.

The Grand Prix struck a Monte Carlo sedan at what appeared to be a high rate of speed, he said.

Hanneman said the force of the impact flipped over the Grand Prix, which caught fire as it was airborne, before landing in the yard of a nearby house.

The three male occupants of the Grand Prix died at the scene, Hanneman said, as did the driver of the Monte Carlo.

Following the violent collision, the Monte Carlo crashed into a brick wall and struck a power pole. Its occupant, identified as a black woman in her 30s, was trapped, Hanneman said.

Firefighters cut open the roof of the vehicle in an attempt to rescue the woman but were unsuccessful, Hanneman said.

He said the pursuit began on Indigo Street in Compton, and the suspects' vehicle matched the description of one from which shots had been fired earlier.

Deputies spotted a vehicle that matched that of the one leaving the shooting scene and conducted a traffic stop, according to sheriff's officials.

The vehicle stopped, and as the deputies exited their patrol car to approach the vehicle, the driver drove off.

Deputies pursued in their patrol car west on Greenleaf Boulevard.

The pursuit lasted about five minutes, Hanneman said, and ended with the suspects' vehicle unrecognizable.

"It looks like a burned-out husk that's upside down right now," Hanneman said. "It has damage to it both by fire and by the crash."

As of Saturday afternoon, neither the woman nor the suspects had been identified.

The incident is under investigation.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact Compton Sheriff's Station at (310) 605-6500. Those who wish to provide information anonymously may call Crime Stoppers by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA and the tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.

Copyright 2013 - Daily News, Los Angeles

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