Last Updated on January 9, 2023 by CCAR Staff
SAN BERNARDINO >> Two cars crashed with such force early Monday that the impact — which killed two — ripped the motor from one vehicle and sent it flying onto the roadway.
“It was like an explosion,” said Nicholas Alvarado, who lives across the street from the alternator shop where the two cars came to rest. “Then I heard the scraping, like the cars dragging across the road. It was crazy.”
Alvarado said he and his family ran outside and saw car parts all over the road and the vehicles in the auto shop lot.
• Video: Two killed in high-impact San Bernardino crash
The crash took place just before 5 a.m. near Mount Vernon and West Rialto avenues, San Bernardino police said.
The crash started as a pursuit at the border of Colton and San Bernardino near South Mount Vernon Avenue and North La Cadena Drive, said Lt. Rich Lawhead.
A sheriff’s deputy had attempted to stop a black Honda, but it sped off at about 100 mph. The deputy discontinued the pursuit at West Mill Street and Mount Vernon Avenue, Lawhead said.
“The deputy could see a puff of smoke in the distance and believed that the vehicle may have been involved in a crash,” said Lawhead.
• Photos: San Bernardino crash sends motor flying from one car, 2 killed
Dramatic surveillance video from Legend Pump and Well Service shows the black Honda continued north, colliding violently with an eastbound gray Mustang, sending both vehicles through the metal fence of M&M Alternators, 121 N. Mount Vernon Ave. Both cars came to rest next to the auto shop’s wall.
About 30 seconds later, the deputy could be seen driving through the intersections, searching for the crash site.
“He didn’t initially see where the vehicles ended up,” said Lawhead.
The passenger in the Mustang died at the scene. The driver is expected to recover, officials said. The man driving the Honda was killed, officials said.
Officials say the fleeing driver had warrants, but the vehicle wasn’t stolen.
• Video: Fatal San Bernardino pursuit crash caught on surveillance video
Alvarado and a family member said they could see the injured driver inside the mangled Mustang moving around very slowly.
“He looked really hurt,” he said.
There is no information available at this time on the two victims killed in the crash.
The intersection of Mount Vernon and Rialto avenues was shut down while San Bernardino police investigated the fatal crash. EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was edited to clarify it was a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputy involved in the pursuit.
