Police Pursuit Ends in Tragic LA Car Crash
LOS ANGELES (February 17, 2023) – A Cal State Northridge student died early Thursday morning when the Honda Civic he was driving was hit by robbery suspects allegedly fleeing from police. The fatal accident marks the second fatal Los Angeles car crash in as many weeks involving an LAPD police pursuit.
According to the Los Angeles Times, police officers attempted to initiate a traffic stop at White Oak Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard in Northridge sometime around 12:30 a.m. of a vehicle connected to an earlier armed robbery in the San Fernando Valley.
Rather than comply with officers, Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Officer Drake Madison told the publication that the vehicle continued driving west on Roscoe Boulevard, prompting police to give chase.
About half a mile from where the pursuit began, the suspect vehicle reportedly ran a red light at Lindley Avenue, striking the 19-year-old college student’s car, which was southbound on Lindley. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Driver in Fatal LA Crash Arrested After Foot Pursuit
The driver and passenger in the suspect vehicle, a black RAV4, fled the scene on foot immediately following the tragic accident, failing to render aid to the driver in the other car.
Police later apprehended the driver, but his passenger is still at large. Officer Madison told the Los Angeles Times that a loaded rifle was recovered from the suspect’s vehicle.
CBS News notes that the 19-year-old victim was at least the fifth innocent bystander killed in a Los Angeles car accident involving police pursuits in the last thirty days.
Thursday’s crash comes just over two weeks after a car accident following a police pursuit ended in the death of two innocent bystanders when a stolen black Toyota Tacoma pickup collided with their Honda Civic in Panorama City.
On February 5, a married couple returning home from a party died in a Los Angeles crash related to a police pursuit involving suspects who allegedly stole a catalytic converter.
