Authorities Thursday identified a woman killed when the SUV in which she was a passenger crashed in southwest Los Angeles while being chased by Gardena police.
Jacqueline Cortez, 21, died at the scene of the 10:30 a.m. crash Tuesday at Century Boulevard and Normandie Avenue, according to the coroner’s office.
The driver was treated at a hospital for injuries described as not life-threatening. He was booked on suspicion of assault on an officer and evading arrest, police said. His name has not been released.
Officers had tried to pull over the car, reported stolen from South Gate, but it kept going, police said.
“When the driver of the stolen car wouldn’t pull over, we initiated a pursuit,” police said in a statement. “At one point, the driver of the stolen car rammed one of our patrol vehicles. The pursuit lasted about three minutes before the suspect crashed into another vehicle and then hit a power pole at 99th and Normandie … (where) the stolen vehicle immediately caught fire.”
Officers rescued the driver from the burning car, but were unable to rescue Cortez.
–City News Service