More information on Saturday’s car crash that left three people dead and three seriously injured – Pasadena Now

New details are emerging about a high-speed crash that left three young men dead and three other people critically injured in Pasadena early Saturday morning.

The tragic incident occurred around 2:38 a.m. when a Tesla Model 3 left the road and crashed into an unoccupied building in the 2300 block of Foothill Boulevard at Vista Ave. crashed, according to Lt. Anthony Russo of the Pasadena Police Department.

The westbound Tesla with six occupants was traveling at least twice the speed limit when the driver ran a red light and lost control, police told local television news.

Investigators also told KABC-TV that there appeared to be four people in the back seat, none of whom were wearing seatbelts.

The driver, identified as 22-year-old Mohed Samuel, died in the accident along with passengers Stefan Michael Pfeiffer, 20, a student at Pasadena City College, and Esrom Fessemaye, KABC-TV reported. Los Angeles County Medical Examiner records appear to confirm the deaths of Mohed Samuel and Pfeiffer.

Samuel’s younger sister and another man and woman were reportedly seriously injured.

According to city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian, the two women and a man who were transported to trauma centers were in critical condition, and the situation for one was later stabilized. The ages of the injured people were not immediately known, but their injuries appeared to be “survivable,” Derderian told City News Service.

“There was evidence at the scene that alcohol may have been a factor, but we cannot yet say whether the driver was impaired or whether one of the occupants was under the influence of alcohol,” Russo said, as reported by City News Service.

Investigators want to investigate whether the Tesla’s autopilot function was activated at the time of the accident.

Russo said the driver lost control on a curve and hit a curb, sending the vehicle into the air. The Tesla then struck two city light poles, a utility pole and a building, causing a widespread outage that left an estimated 500 homes and businesses in the dark.

During the response and field investigation, authorities closed streets from Craig Avenue to Sierra Madre Boulevard along Foothill Boulevard and Vista Street north and south of Foothill for nearly 12 hours.

The department’s major accident investigation team is still investigating the exact cause.

According to KABC, grieving friends gathered at the crash site later in the day.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Pasadena Police at (626) 744-4241 or report information anonymously by contacting Crime Stoppers via smartphone at (800) 222-TIPS (8477), by downloading the “P3 Tips” mobile app from Google Play or the Apple App Store or via the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.