A stretch of Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock has increasingly become a popular shopping district dotted with trendy eateries and neighborhood shops.
But residents say the boulevard's wide lanes have also attracted street racers and drivers who ignore the speed limit.
"It's known for speeders," said Mike Flores, 60. "In the two years I was there, all you could hear is all these cars flying by and brakes screeching. And every once in a while, one of them would lose control."
On Wednesday night, three people were killed, including a pregnant woman and her teenage sister, after their black Nissan Maxima was struck by another vehicle, slammed into a tree and burst into flames.
Authorities said the cars were driving at least 70 mph and appeared to be involved in a street race. In the wake of the crash, city officials vowed a new crackdown on speeders and street racers in the area.
Between 1994 and 2006, there were 286 accidents that resulted in injuries on the stretch of Colorado Boulevard roughly between the Glendale Freeway and Figueroa Street, according to a Times analysis of California Highway Patrol data. Of those, 108 accidents, or 38%, involved speeding violations.
Los Angeles Police Det. Felix Padilla, who is investigating the crash, said witnesses saw three cars speeding west on Colorado Boulevard when a Mitsubishi collided with the Nissan about 10:30 p.m. near Highland View Avenue, causing the Nissan to careen out of control and hit the tree. Police are searching for the third vehicle, described only as a "small white car."
Witnesses said the cars were traveling at "dangerous" speeds, about 70 mph in a 35 mph zone, Padilla said. "We're going by witness accounts that the cars were racing," he said.
Rostislav Shnayder, 19, of Eagle Rock, who was driving a white Mitsubishi Eclipse, was later arrested and booked on suspicion of murder in connection with the accident, police said. There was no indication that Shnayder was impaired by drugs or alcohol.
Killed in the Nissan were driver Cristyn Nicole Cordova, 19, and her sister Toni Marie Cordova, 16, both of Eagle Rock, police said. Jason Timothy Gomez Hernandez, 19, a family friend who was in the back seat, was ejected from the vehicle and killed instantly, police said.
Carlos Alberto Campos, Cordova's 19-year-old boyfriend and the unborn child's father, was riding in the front seat and also was thrown from the vehicle, police said. He has multiple fractures and is in critical condition at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena.
