Two people were killed and several others hospitalized because a driver allegedly ran a red light and hit three vehicles in Anaheim early Tuesday morning, March 31, authorities said.
An Anaheim officer in the area of Harbor Boulevard and Cypress Street noticed a driver in a silver Infiniti sedan driving erratically about 12:45 a.m. and caught up to the car.
The officer “didn’t even get a chance to pull it over,” Sgt. Matt Sutter said. “The driver turned off the lights and sped away.”
The driver turned south on Anaheim Boulevard from eastbound Cypress and then ran a red light at Lincoln Avenue, slamming into a red Camry and a blue car going east and west along Lincoln on green lights, Sutter said.
A Cadillac Escalade SUV stopped at the red light waiting to proceed north was also hit, with its driver suffering a minor injury.
Though the officer was following, the officer did not turn on the lights and the siren on the cruiser and police were not in pursuit when the crash occurred, Sutter said.
A front-seat passenger in the Infiniti, a male of unknown age, died at the scene, Sutter said. The driver of the red Camry, a man, was also killed.
The Infiniti’s driver was hospitalized in critical condition, the sergeant said. Further details about the driver were not yet known.
Two teenage girls in the back seat of the Infiniti were also taken to hospitals in critical condition, but they are “awake at this time,” Sutter said.
The identities of the two decedents were withheld by police pending notification of their relatives.
The driver of the Infiniti could face charges pending the outcome of the Anaheim police investigation, Sutter said.