3 Teens, 3-Year-Old Killed When Car Hits Tree

Two San Fernando Valley teenagers were among four people killed in a single-vehicle accident here late Saturday, officials said.

The accident, which also took the life of a 3-year-old boy, happened at 10:10 p.m. Saturday when a car driven by Ana Rodriguez, a Van Nuys resident believed to be 16 years old, veered off the road and struck a tree, according to Los Angeles Police Sgt. Richard Rinker.

Rodriguez was driving a 1986 Ford Thunderbird south on Figueroa Street at Annan Way when the car veered right and ran off the road, striking a curb and a parked car, Rinker said.

The car hit a chain-link fence and a large oak tree, he said. “The impact tore her car almost in half.”

Rodriguez was killed instantly in the crash, Rinker said. Also killed were her sister, Emma Rodriguez, 19, of Highland Park; Emma’s son, Alejandro Cazares, 3; and Ana’s boyfriend, Jerry Romero, 18, of North Hollywood.

Oscar Olivares, 14, of Eagle Rock, and Rosemary Delarosa, 11, of North Hollywood, were severely injured in the accident and were listed in critical condition at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena.

A witness told police there were no other cars nearby and no obvious reason the car went out of control, Rinker said.

“It appears to be speed-related,” he said. “There were some skid marks leading up to the collision.”

Rinker said Ana Rodriquez is believed to have been the only person in the car wearing a seat belt. Cazares, he said, was not restrained in a child safety seat.

“If Alejandro had been in a child safety seat and properly restrained, he probably would have survived,” Rinker said.

The boy, Romero and Emma Rodriguez died at the scene within 30 minutes of the accident.

“It was really quite a traumatic event for my officers,” Rinker said. “My officers basically watched three people die right in front of them and there was nothing they could do about it.”