North Hills rollover crash leaves 1 dead, 8 injured

NORTH HILLS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A collision between two vehicles in North Hills Sunday left one person dead and eight others, including four children, injured, Los Angeles police said.

More than 60 city firefighters responded to the collision near Haskell Avenue and Parthenia Street around 11:40 a.m.

LAPD Sgt. Kurt Smith said the incident began when two vehicles were involved in an accident near Sepulveda Boulevard, at which point one of the two vehicles attempted to flee the scene. The fleeing vehicle then crashed into a white minivan that was heading northbound on Haskell Avenue.

"That suspect vehicle, which is the white 4Runner here, was traveling at a high rate of speed, trying to evade that location. It continued westbound on Parthenia ... when it collided with the minivan that was traveling northbound here on Haskell," said Sgt. Frank Preciado of the LAPD.

There were a total of seven people inside the white minivan, including two men, one woman and four kids between 4 and 12 years old.

A 37-year-old father riding in the minivan was transported to a hospital and succumbed to his injuries, Smith said.

All four children were hospitalized. Two of them, an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old, suffered critical injuries. The remaining victims, including the deceased man's wife and two people in the fleeing vehicle, were transported to local hospitals.

A 20-year-old female driver of the fleeing 4Runner was said to have made an illegal U-turn and collided with the first vehicle, witnesses told police. The victim in that crash then attempted to follow the suspect on Parthenia Street but stopped when the suspect sped up.

The female suspect suffered internal injuries and a broken arm. A male passenger in the 4Runner was in unknown condition.

The fire department requested the Mayor's Crisis Respond team to assist. Investigators were working to determine if alcohol or drugs played a role in the crash, which is routine protocol following accidents of this type, Smith said.

Authorities said the driver of the 4Runner was likely to face felony charges. Anyone with information on this crash was asked to contact the LAPD's Valley Traffic Division at (818) 644-8020.