A 14-year-old boy was behind the wheel in a fiery crash that left three people dead Monday night in Phoenix, police said.
The crash occurred around 8 p.m. near the 17 Freeway and Greenway Road, according to Phoenix television station KTVK.
The incident began with the pursuit of a stolen vehicle, the station reported.
Phoenix Police Department Sgt. Vince Lewis said it began on the 17 Freeway when an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper spotted a stolen white SUV.
Lewis said the SUV was traveling in the northbound lanes of the freeway near Dunlap Avenue and was not stopping for the pursuing DPS trooper.
Minutes later, the SUV exited the freeway at Greenway Road and collided with a Honda CRV, then hit a wall, bursting into flames upon impact.
Phoenix Fire Department Capt. Jake Van Hook said seven people were in the stolen SUV.
The driver of the SUV, a 14-year-old boy, was hurt, but his injuries were not life-threatening.
An adult female passenger was declared dead at the scene.
A 38-year-old woman and a 13-year-old girl were pronounced dead at the hospital.
A 14-year-old girl, a 20-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man were also hurt, but their injuries were not life-threatening,
The driver of the Honda was treated at the scene.
Neither driver showed signs of impairment, police said.
It’s unclear what the relationship between the seven people are, but police said the teenage driver had the same last name as one other occupant in the SUV.
The investigation is ongoing.
