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Fiery sheriff’s pursuit in Fairfax district leaves one dead

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A driver in a nearby car was killed Tuesday when an L.A. County sheriff’s pursuit ended in a fiery crash near the Original Farmers Market in the Fairfax district.

The pursuit began at about 10:30 p.m. when deputies stopped a gray Chevrolet Malibu at Melrose Avenue and Crescent Heights Boulevard for allegedly driving without headlights and lane straddling, according to Deputy Trina Schrader, a department spokeswoman.

The driver hit a deputy with his car and took off, Schrader said.

Schrader said deputies initiated the pursuit because the driver had committed “assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer.”

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They chased the driver until he crashed into a blue SUV at the busy intersection of Third Street and Fairfax Avenue, about a mile from where the pursuit started.

The front of the Malibu caught fire, while the SUV was pinned between a tree and a building.

Firefighters took about five minutes to free the SUV driver, according to Nicholas Prange, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

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Schrader said the SUV driver, who was the only person in the vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s office identified him as Jeeves Tangonan, 37.

The driver involved in the pursuit was taken into custody and is being treated for nonserious injuries at a hospital. Sheriff’s officials declined to release his identity.

The deputy hit by the driver’s car was treated on scene, then transported to a hospital for nonserious injuries.

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