Stolen Car Slams Into Firetruck; Teen Driver Killed

The teen-age driver of a stolen car fleeing police at high speed crashed into a fire engine in Sylmar on Thursday, flipping the engine upside down, killing himself and injuring four firefighters, authorities said.

Los Angeles Fire Department officials said the car, which was being chased by a motorcycle officer, sped past an auto that was stopped at the intersection of Borden Avenue and Polk Street and ran a red light.

One witness said the car appeared to be traveling more than 90 m.p.h. Los Angeles Police Traffic Investigator Mark Warschaw estimated the speed was “well in excess of 55 m.p.h.”

Warschaw said the car struck the right rear of the 16-ton firetruck, spinning it sideways and overturning it. The truck, from Station 91 about a block from the spectacular crash, was not responding to an emergency and its lights and sirens were not on, Battalion Chief Curtis W. James said.

Authorities said the car, a new Honda, had been stolen in Santa Clarita. But it was not immediately clear whether the pursuing officer knew the auto was stolen or was chasing it for failing to halt after a traffic violation.

“We were just talking--it was my P.E. break--and we looked and we saw the firetruck flying,” said Randy Garcia, 14, who was standing about 100 yards away on the blacktop of Olive Vista Junior High School when the crash occurred. “It was a loud noise. It looked like you see in the movies when it flipped.”

Garcia said the compact car acted as a ramp for the firetruck, launching it into the air and causing it to graze and bend a traffic signal.

“The point of impact presented some kind of fulcrum that caused the truck to flip,” James said. “It’s highly unusual for a firetruck to flip. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The coroner’s office identified the dead teen as Paul Puga Carranza, 16, of Sylmar. Friends and relatives who rushed to the crash scene said he was a Sylmar High School student.

The captain, engineer and two firefighters aboard the truck were treated at Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, James said.

The injured firefighters--identified as Mark Chafe, Mark Halquist, Howard Kaplan and David Potthasp--were released after treatment, fire officials said Thursday night.

James said the firefighters probably would have been killed had they not been wearing seat belts in compliance with a recently adopted Fire Department safety policy.

Carranza’s cousin, David Marez, 15, of Sylmar, said he was standing on the junior high school’s blacktop when he saw the crash.

“My friends were talking and I said, ‘Wow, there’s going to be a crash,’ ” he said. “I ran down here and I saw my cousin hanging out the window. It was too late. He was dead.”

Marez and friends of Carranza said they believe that the boy was joy riding but had not stolen the car himself.

“He doesn’t know how to steal a car,” Marez said. “I’m surprised he knew how to drive.”