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Police officers search a car involved in a fatal street racing accident in Los Angeles. (Photo: Los Angeles Times)

Car accident fatality: Police arrested a 19-year-old unlicensed driver after he ran a red light during an illegal street race, slammed into another car, and fled the scene Friday in Los Angeles. The woman driving the other car was killed in the accident.

•   Two cars that were racing on I-5 exited the freeway in Boyle Heights and ran a red light at freeway speed.

•   One of the cars hit a vehicle that was in the intersection, killing the driver.

•   The street racers fled the scene. Police found them and arrested the driver, who was unlicensed and had an outstanding warrant. He was charged with murder in connection with the fatal accident.

The deadly hit-and-run crash occurred shortly after 3 a.m., according to an ABC News report.

Police said 19-year-old Roberto Moreno was driving a car on Interstate 5 when one of his passengers allegedly pointed a gun at a passing car on the freeway. The driver of the other car sped up and Moreno chased after him. The vehicles then began to race, police said.

Both vehicles exited the freeway at Fourth Street in Boyle Heights. They were still traveling at high speed when they ran the red light at Boyle Avenue, where Moreno’s vehicle slammed into another car that was in the intersection.

Moreno and three passengers got out of the car and fled the scene before their vehicle burst into flames.

The driver of the car that Moreno hit — 32-year-old Erika Flores — was trapped in her vehicle. Emergency crews had to extricate her from the car. She died at the scene. Police say she had nothing to do with the street race.

California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles Police Department officers responded to the collision. LAPD officers told the Los Angeles Times that Moreno was not licensed to drive and had a warrant out for his arrest.

“We know he had a warrant, though it’s not clear for what,” LAPD officer Melissa Lisenby told the Times.

Other law enforcement officials said Moreno had two previous citations that had turned into warrants. There was no record that his vehicle had been impounded as a result of those citations.

Police found Moreno, arrested him, and charged him with murder because he fled the scene and failed to render aid after the collision, according to the ABC News report.

Police said they searched Moreno’s car but could not find the weapon. They interviewed and released two of the passengers who were in Moreno’s car at the time of the fatal crash, but the third passenger was still at large.

Los Angeles Wrongful Death Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented the families of wrongful death victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A 22-year-old man was killed in an illegal street race that wound up on I-15 in Escondido. (Photo: NBC News)

An illegal street race ended in a fatal freeway accident Tuesday on Interstate 15 in Escondido.

•   A Nissan 370Z and a Nissan Titan pickup truck raced onto the I-15 freeway from a traffic-signaled intersection on a surface street.

•   The 370Z driver lost control of the car, hit a light pole, skidded across the freeway, and crashed into the center divider. He died at the scene.

•   The pickup truck driver fled the scene.

•   The CHP is urging anyone with information to call 858-637-3800.

The deadly car accident occurred at about 4:40 p.m., according to a report in the North County Times.

California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Bettencourt said 22-year-old Derek Anthony Millsap of Escondido  was driving a 2011 Nissan 370Z coupe.

Before the crash, the 370Z was stopped next to a Nissan Titan pickup truck with tinted windows at a stoplight on Via Rancho Parkway. When the light turned green, both vehicles raced onto the southbound  I-15 freeway onramp, Bettencourt said.

Just south of the onramp, Milsap lost control of the 370Z and crashed into a metal light pole on the right shoulder of the freeway. The vehicle skidded across all of the southbound traffic lanes and crashed head-on into the center divider in the car pool lane (see photo). The right rear tire hurtled off of the Nissan and hit a silver Toyota Camry.

The Nissan pickup truck which had been racing the Millsap’s 370Z fled the scene. Bettencourt said neither drugs nor alcohol appeared to be a factor in the fatal accident, which appeared to have been caused by illegal street racing.

Millsap was pronounced dead at the scene.

The CHP is urging anyone who saw the accident or has any information about the black Nissan Titan pickup truck to call  the California Highway Patrol at 858-637-3800.

Speed Kills

It is difficult to know exactly how many people are killed in illegal street racing because no official statistics are kept. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) lists all “speeding-related” crashes, including illegal street racing, in a single category.

The NHTSA considers a crash to be speeding-related if the driver was charged with a speed-related offense or if an officer indicated that racing, driving too fast for conditions, or exceeding the posted speed limit was a contributing factor in the crash.

Speeding-related deaths account for more than a third of all motor vehicle accident fatalities in the United States — and the numbers are staggering. According the NHTSA statistics reported by the Census Bureau, 11,674 people were killed in speeding-related crashes in 2011 alone. That’s almost three times the number of Americans who died in combat during the entire Iraq war. In California, 1,141 people died in speeding related crashes last year.

Motor vehicle accidents are still the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 16 and 20.

Escondido Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.