ESCONDIDO, Calif. — A 13-year-old girl trying to elude police after stealing her mother’s SUV lost control of the vehicle, going off the road and rolling over two men who were sleeping in some bushes, killing them, reports say.
Two girls were taken into custody after the incident but have been released to their parents. Authorities are trying to identify the two victims, whom were believed to be homeless.
The incident occurred late Friday night, police tell the Sacramento Bee. An officer attempted to pull over the Ford Explorer for a traffic violation. The vehicle initially stopped, but then sped off as the officer approached, the Bee reports.
“What the officer didn’t know at the time, is that the car was being driven by a 13-year-old girl from Vista who took her mom’s car without her knowing,” Escondido police Lt. Kevin Toth tells Fox 5. “The girl’s juvenile friend was a passenger in the car.”
About driving about a half-mile, the Explorer lost control while making a turn, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. It slid into a roadside planter, police say.
The two teens were not injured, but police discovered the two male victims had been sleeping in bushes in the planter, the Bee reports. One man was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other died of his injuries at a hospital.
During the investigation, a suspected drunken driver crashed into a patrol car at the scene, reports say. No one was injured and the driver was arrested, the Union-Tribune reports.
