Motorist Held on Suspicion of Murder After Fiery Crash

A 25-year-old Van Nuys man who police said may have been driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol was booked on suspicion of murder Thursday after a fiery early morning collision that left two people dead.

Police said Sharrieff Saunders was driving a Nissan sedan at a high rate of speed about 2:35 a.m. when he struck another Nissan sedan driving in the same eastbound lane of Vanowen Street in North Hollywood.

The second car burst into flames, police said, and Saunders and a nearby resident attempted to free the two victims, a man and a woman who have not been identified. The blaze prevented the victims from being rescued, police said. They were so badly burned that it will be at least a week before authorities can confirm their identities, a coroner’s investigator said.

An area resident said she saw Saunders run away after attempting to rescue the motorists.

“As soon as the neighbors came out he ran away,” said Guadalupe Navarrete, who lives near the corner of Vanowen Street and Bellaire Avenue. “But he tried to help quite a bit.”

Saunders was arrested by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s North Hollywood Division. He was badly burned in the rescue attempt, and was taken to County/USC Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition in the prison ward. His bail has been set at $1 million.

“We think he was under the influence of something,” said Det. Bill Bustos of the LAPD Valley Traffic Division, which is investigating the incident. “Under what, I can’t tell you.”

Neighbors said Saunders is a sound engineer and electronic music producer who lives with his wife and their young daughter in a Van Nuys apartment complex.

Police said the case will be presented to the district attorney’s office on Monday.

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Fausset is a Times correspondent.