Commerce, California February 27, 2016 - Eight vehicle crash kills three and injures four. A multi-car accident on the 5 Freeway occurred around mi
Commerce, California February 27, 2016 – Eight vehicle crash kills three and injures four.
A multi-car accident on the 5 Freeway occurred around midnight on February 27, 2016, when a chain reaction caused a fiery crash. The accident appears to have been started as a result of street racing, investigators were at the scene gathering evidence as to the cause.
This fatal crash involved eight different vehicles just east of Washington Boulevard. A motorcycle police office on duty that night recalled seeing a Dodge Charger and Challenger speeding southbound on the highway around midnight. It appeared that when one of the drivers hit his brakes, he lost control traveling at that high rate of speed and plowed into an 18 wheel UPS tractor.
Once the semi-truck went airborne, it struck a Nissan Sentra and tore off the top of that car. The truck came to rest on top of a Ford Explorer, then burst into flames. The fire blazed for over an hour before local firefighters could put it out.
In the crash, the UPS driver was killed, two occupants in the Sentra were killed, and two other in that car were rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
The driver of the car that caused the accident, 35-year-old Dealio Lockhart, was able to climb out of his car with only minor head injuries and faces felony vehicular manslaughter charges.