Los Angeles, California- Suspected Street Race Causes Chain Reaction Crash and 3 Deaths

February 27, 2016

Shortly after midnight on Saturday February 27, 2016, 2 vehicles- a Dodge Charger and a Dodge Challenger- were involved in a suspected street race on the 5 Freeway that went terribly wrong, causing a chain-reaction car crash involving 8 vehicles. The fatal crash resulted in the deaths of 3 people and left 4 others injured.

While racing southbound down the freeway, one of the racing vehicles,the Dodge Challenger, spotted a slow moving vehicle not far ahead of him and in an attempt to avoid colliding with it, merged to the right lane as the other vehicle ahead of him did the same, causing him to slam on the breaks. At that point, he lost control of his vehicle and collided with a UPS 18 wheeler. The 18 wheeler then crashed through the center divider and became airborne.

Meanwhile, a gray Nissan Sentra that was traveling northbound spotted the airborne semi coming his way and, in a futile attempt to avoid getting hit by the truck, locked his breaks before plowing into the semi and having the entire roof of his car slashed off. The semi continued on its uncontrollable path before it eventually stopped atop a Ford Explorer and burst into flames.

Although the UPS driver managed to escape the burning truck, he was himself engulfed in flames and sadly passed away, as did two passengers of the Sentra. Two others in that same vehicle were rushed to the hospital in critical condition, while 2 others from different vehicles were also treated for injuries.

One of the suspected street racers has been arrested and is facing felony vehicular manslaughter charges, while the second driver is still being searched for. It has been reported that no alcohol or drugs are suspected to have been used during the incident. The cause and details of the crash are still under investigation. The northbound side of the freeway reopened roughly 24 hours after the fatal crash occurred.