3 Dead, 3 Critically Injured in Early Saturday Morning Car Collision

A devastating single-vehicle crash in Pasadena early Saturday morning left three young men dead and three others people fighting for their lives, according to police.

The tragic incident unfolded at approximately 2:38 a.m. when a Tesla Model 3 veered off the road and slammed into an unoccupied building in the 2300 block of Foothill Boulevard, according to Lt. Anthony Russo of the Pasadena Police Department. 

The vehicle was carrying six occupants westbound at the time of the crash, he said.

Two women and a man who were passengers in the car were transported to a local hospital, all in critical condition, with one later stabilized.

The three pronounced dead at the scene were 18 to 21 years of age, 

The ages of the three people taken to trauma centers were not immediately known, but their injuries appeared to “survivable,” City spokesperson Lisa Derderian told City News Service.

“There was evidence at the scene that alcohol may have been involved, but it’s too soon for us to tell if the driver was impaired or if any of the occupants were under the influence,” Russo said, according to City News Service.

Investigators planned to look into whether the Tesla’s autopilot feature was engaged at the time of the crash.

Russo said the driver lost control at a curve and hit a curb, sending the vehicle into the air. It then struck two city light poles, a utility pole, and a building and caused a widespread outage that left an estimated 500 homes and businesses in the dark. 

During the response and field investigation, authorities closed the streets from Craig Avenue to Sierra Madre Boulevard along Foothill Boulevard and Vista Street north and south of Foothill for nearly 12 hours.

Investigators also believe that excessive speed contributed to the crash, but the department’s major accident investigation team is still investigating the precise cause.

The names of the deceased and injured individuals are being withheld pending notification of their families.

Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to call the Pasadena Police at (626) 744-4241 or report information anonymously by contacting “Crime Stoppers” at (800) 222-TIPS (8477) via your smartphone by downloading the “P3 Tips” Mobile App on Google Play or the Apple App Store, or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org