Speed likely played part in fatal Pomona Freeway crash
Witnesses report the car was traveling at a high rate before it crashed, ejecting 3 occupants and killing 2 young men. Police question occupants of another vehicle.
Authorities say two young men killed this morning in a fatal single-vehicle crash on the Pomona Freeway (60) were part of a church group caravaning to a local ice skating rink and may have been either racing with others in their group or speeding to catch up at the time of the accident.
Witnesses told California Highway Patrol officers that the green 1994 Toyota Camry that crashed was traveling east in the slow lane at high speed about 10:45 a.m. when it veered across the other lanes and struck the center divider twice, said CHP officer Joe Zizi. He said witnesses also told officers that the Camry was traveling near a silver Dodge Neon -- later stopped by investigators for questioning -- at the time of the accident.
Three of the five men in the Camry were thrown from the car, including the two who died. (In an earlier version of this story, California Highway Patrol officials incorrectly said one of the dead was a woman in her 20s.)
The force of the crash threw one of the deceased across the road's center divider and into westbound lanes, Zizi said. Only one of the men in the car was wearing a seat belt and he was not thrown from the vehicle, Zizi said.
The injured and dead victims include two 17 year-olds, two 18 year-olds and a 21 year-old, Zizi said. Three were taken to local hospitals by helicopter in critical condition. Authorities were still trying to identify the men who were killed, he said.
The car was registered to one of the men traveling in the vehicle but it was unclear whether he was driving, Zizi said.
Investigators stopped the occupants of the Dodge Neon at an exit east of the crash site. The occupants of the Neon told officers that they were on a church trip with the crash victims.
The crash investigation briefly shut down all lanes of the Pomona Freeway this morning, with most lanes continued to be closed into the early afternoon, backing up traffic in both directions for miles, authorities said.
Two lanes were open on each side of the freeway as of about 2 p.m., with all lanes scheduled to open by 3 p.m. Drivers, particularly those eastbound from Los Angeles, are advised to take I-10 or I-210 instead.
molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com
