UPLAND, California — Four people were killed early Friday after a six-minute police chase ended in a two-vehicle crash in Southern California, authorities said.
San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies began pursuing a driver suspected of being intoxicated around 1:45 a.m. Friday after the vehicle failed to stop and yield during a traffic stop. The driver evaded pursuing officers and a sheriff’s helicopter at high speed for six minutes.
Officers later discovered that the Hyundai had been reported stolen and that a loaded gun had been found in the possession of one of the deceased, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The vehicle, a 2018 Hyundai, collided with a 2010 Ford Mustang at an intersection in Upland, a city about 33 miles (53.11 kilometers) east of downtown Los Angeles, according to the sheriff’s department. The Hyundai then struck a pole, split into three pieces and burst into flames.
The five male occupants of the Hyundai were thrown from the vehicle, the sheriff said. Four of them were pronounced dead at the scene and a 13-year-old boy was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive.
The occupants of the Mustang, a 35-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman, were taken to hospital as a precaution. None of the occupants’ names were released.
Other details were not immediately available.