Three women from Orange County who were rideshare passengers were killed early Saturday, Aug. 26, when the car was hit broadside by another vehicle at a south Los Angeles intersection, authorities said.
Three other people were critically injured, the California Highway Patrol said.
Kimberly Izquierdo, 27, of Santa Ana; Juvelyn Arroyo, 23, of San Juan Capistrano; and Veronica Amezola, 23, of Santa Ana, died in the collision, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
Fox11 reported that the women were all sitting in the back seat of an Uber, that a male passenger in the front seat was injured and the female driver was critically injured. The crash was so violent that one of the women in the back seat was ejected, police said, according to the TV report.
The crash happened around 5:25 a.m. at South Vermont Avenue and West Century Boulevard, several blocks west of the 110 Freeway.
LAPD Sgt. Clarence Perkins, in an interview at the scene with NBC4, said a Mercedes ran a red light and plowed into the Honda.
“He [passed] the vehicles that were stopped at the red light, doing the right thing. He passes on the left side of them, into the turn lanes and goes around them and strikes the victims,” LAPD Det. Ryan Moreno said of the Mercedes driver, according to the Fox11 report. “And you’re talking about going 85, 90 mph at least.”
Officer Rosario Cervantes on Sunday afternoon would only describe the Mercedes as “the suspect vehicle” and said it was headed north on Vermont “at a high rate of speed” before it collided with the Honda, the rideshare car that was westbound on Century.
The Mercedes driver, a man, was in the hospital, Cervantes said. She said investigators have not determined why the Mercedes ran the red light.
The LAPD is investigating the crash.
No additional information was immediately available.
SCNG Staff Writer Mona Darwish and City News Service contributed to this report.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
Source: Orange County Register
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