Nine people were hospitalized after a collision of several vehicles that resulted from a car chase in Encinitas, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP).
The short-lived chase began just before 8:30 a.m. Sunday in Encinitas when a high-speed driver in a Nissan Center refused to surrender to authorities. The CHP said the chase was halted just minutes later in a collision at the intersection of Encinitas Boulevard and Via Cantebrie, when the driver turned red and improperly turned left.
Pictures from the scene show three vehicles – Nissan, Chevy Traverse and Volkswagen Jetta – which stopped at an intersection, and all with significant damage. One car in particular had the most damage to the front.
“We went out and saw the accident and we never saw anything like it,” Encinitas resident Alex Diaz said.
Another neighbor told NBC 7 that he described the blow as loud.
“We heard a big bang and I said to my son,‘ I think something happened next to the flats ’because we heard a big bang and after a while we heard more sirens,” Mauricio Mancilla said. “Then my wife called me what had just happened
The Jette driver was a 25-year-old Carlsbad resident, the CHP said. The driver of the Chevrolet was a 32-year-old woman from Encinitas who had sons aged 1 and 3 in the vehicle. Authorities have not identified the driver accused of inciting the chase, but said it was a 19-year-old. They added that there were a total of five passengers in the suspicious vehicle, whose age ranged from 16 to 20 years.
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Authorities said there were no serious injuries in the crash, but nine people were hospitalized as a precaution.
The 19-year-old Nissan driver is facing criminal charges involving reckless evasion of a police officer. Alcohol and drugs are being investigated as possible factors in the accident.
The case is still under investigation.
