A father is dead on Saturday after a teenage girl fled police in a stolen car and ran a red light before crashing into a man’s vehicle, according to the Culver City Police Department.
Officers attempted to pull over the teen around 11 a.m. after noticing her car did not have license plates. The young woman kept driving in what was later found to be a stolen car, said authorities.
The teen then ran a red light at Washington Boulevard and La Cienga Boulevard and crashed into another vehicle pulling out of the ampm gas station, according to police.
The driver of that vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. His 8-year-old son, who was riding in the car, was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The driver of the stolen car, along with two other passengers, fled the scene on foot.
“I saw three people run out,” said Dylan Sage, a Used Tire Express employee and witness to the accident. “They kind of had to walk that way. I saw one stroll through my parking lot, so I was like okay this is really funky. So I made sure we were all safe here, all my guys were okay, and kind of just watched them walk into the restroom at ampm”
One passenger was apprehended inside the bathroom of the gas station, two were caught in nearby a creek trying to escape and a final suspect was found injured inside the car, police said.
All four were transported to the hospital with minor injuries from the traffic collision.
The vehicle was reported missing out of Santa Monica but authorities do not yet know if the car was from a dealership or personal ownership.
No officers were involved in the accident.