ESCONDIDO (CBS 8) - A brief pursuit in Escondido ended in a crash that killed two people early Thursday.
The chase began around midnight in the vicinity of East Grand Avenue and South Midway Drive, according to Escondido police. It was not immediately clear what prompted the pursuit.
The suspect car was involved in a single-vehicle crash shortly afterward on East Grand Avenue near South Ash Street, police said.
Two occupants, a man and woman, were killed and at least one other was injured, according to police. Detectives say a man died after being ejected and a woman was trapped inside. Emergency crews used the jaws of life to get her out before she was airlifted to Sharp Hospital where she later died. Another man and woman are at local hospitals.
Jonathan Flores says the Cruiser zoomed through residential streets before hitting his parked pickup truck.
"The car like caught air, probably doing 100 miles per hour, right when he landed back on ground, lost control, and hit the parked car. Something about this hill, every day, every night. Speeding, constant speeding, like reckless driving, you don't have to drive that fast right here," Flores said.
Escondido Police say the PT Cruiser was going about 90 mph.
"It's extremely sad for two people to lose their lives over minor offenses at this time that we're aware. We don't know if there were more significant reasons as to why they were fleeing from police. It's absolutely tragic that two people lost their lives," Lt. Justin Murphy, Escondido Police said.
A SigAlert was issued for East Grand Avenue between South Ash Street and Harding Street.