Garden Grove : Driver Fleeing Police on Freeway Dies in Crash

A driver was killed in a high-speed chase that began here early Saturday when his car hit a curb, went out of control and soared 100 feet through the air before rolling over and slamming into trees at the Carson Avenue exit to the 605 Freeway, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.

The driver’s name was not immediately known, CHP public affairs officer Bruce Mulligan said.

The chase began about 4:49 a.m. on the northbound San Diego Freeway in Garden Grove near the merger with the Garden Grove Freeway, where two CHP officers were parked for a routine traffic stop, Mulligan said.

A dark Pontiac passed at a high speed and the officers chased it, Mulligan said. The chase reached speeds of up to 105 m.p.h. as officers followed the Pontiac onto the northbound 605 Freeway, he said.

In light traffic the officers closed the gap between them and the speeding auto, and at about the Spring Street crossing in Long Beach, they activated their overhead lights and siren, Mulligan said.

At the next off-ramp at Carson Street, the fleeing driver tried to leave the freeway, but lost control. Long Beach Fire Department paramedics pronounced the car’s driver dead at the scene.