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High-speed crash near Chatsworth leaves elderly couple dead, granddaughter in critical condition

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A high-speed car crash in Chatsworth left an elderly couple dead and their 9-year-old granddaughter in critical condition Sunday afternoon, police said.

Around 3:30 p.m., a 2011 Infiniti M37 was traveling south on De Soto Avenue at a high speed when it smashed into a Toyota Avalon that was turning left onto Plummer Street, according to a statement by the Los Angeles Police Department.

The driver of the Avalon, identified only as a 72-year-old man, and his 73-year-old wife both died at the scene, said Capt. Andy Neiman, who oversees traffic operations at the LAPD’s Valley Bureau. The couple’s 9-year-old granddaughter, who was riding in the backseat, remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

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The victims’ names were being withheld pending notification of kin.

The driver of the Infiniti, a 26-year-old Granada Hills man, was also hospitalized with “severe injuries,” police said.

Witnesses initially told police that a gray sedan was driving alongside the Infiniti on De Soto Avenue, but Neiman said that investigators do not believe street racing to be a factor in the crash.

“Based on the evidence and the video we’ve reviewed thus far, it does not appear that any other vehicle was involved,” he said.

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No arrests had been made as of Monday afternoon.

The area where the crash occurred is popular in the city’s illegal street-racing scene. A nearby stretch of Plummer Street is commonly referred to as the “Canoga Speedway.” In 2015, a vehicle involved in a street race on Plummer near Canoga Avenue plowed into a crowd, leaving two dead.

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.

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