GLENDORA — A crash blamed on a speeding driver who ran two red lights on Lone Hill Avenue sent four people to the hospital early Wednesday, including a young woman listed who was listed in “very critical” condition, authorities said.
The crash was reported about 7:20 a.m. on Lone Hill at Auto Centre Drive, according to Los Angeles County Fire Department officials.
The street is one of the Glendora’s busiest thoroughfares, and was congested with morning trafficat the time of the crash, officials said.
An 18-year-old Azusa man had a young woman as a passenger while, according to witnesses, he was headed northbound on Lone Hill from Gladstone Street at a “high rate of speed,” Glendora police Capt. Tim Staab said.
He blew through a red light at the Glendora Marketplace, then continued through a red light at Auto Centre Drive, the captain said.
The Honda Civic struck a tan sedan that was making a left turn from westbound Auto Centre Drive to southbound Lone Hill Hill Avenue, Staab said. The impact sent the Honda Civic tumbling over a center divider, and it came to rest on its roof in southbound traffic lanes.
The driver of a black sedan was unable to avoid the wreckage and also was struck, deploying his vehicle’s air bag but not causing major damage or injury.
Firefighters spent more than a half-hour cutting the young man and woman free from the wreckage of the Honda Civic, officials said.
The young woman was flown to a hospital by helicopter with severe head injuries and was in “very critical condition,” Staab said.
Her condition remained critical Wednesday afternoon, though according to doctors, <USDEFAULT>“She had made some slight improvements,” Glendora Police Chief Rob Castro said.
The young man driving the Honda Civic was also flown to a hospital, officials said. His condition was believed to be stable, though he was not cooperating with investigators.
A woman who was driving the tan sedan struck by the Honda Civic was flown to the hospital in unknown condition, and a man who was driving the black sedan was taken to a hospital for treatment by ambulance.
The patients who were flown to the hospital were taken to the Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, as Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center was unable to accept helicopter flights Wednesday morning due to fog.
Police were investigating why the driver of the Honda Civic was driving so fast and recklessly prior to the crash.
Upon release from the hospital, the 18-year-old Honda driver, whose name was not immediately available, faces the possibility of multiple criminal charges, Castro said.
The had been stolen from Covina, however the owner did not realize that until contacted by police following the crash, he said. The driver was also unlicensed.
The chief said said officials also ordered that blood be drawn from the teenage driver to determine whether drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash.