Three people were killed early Saturday, November 7, after a California Highway Patrol pursuit of a suspected DUI driver ended in a crash at the Francisquito Avenue ramp of the westbound San Bernardino (10) Freeway, on the Baldwin Park–West Covina line in Los Angeles County, the CHP said. One person died at the scene and two more died after being taken to hospital.

Source: MyNewsLA

According to the CHP account carried by MyNewsLA, officers tried to get the motorist to pull over on the westbound freeway at Azusa Avenue at about 4:10 a.m. on Saturday. The stop attempt triggered a short vehicle chase that ended a couple of minutes later at the Francisquito Avenue on-ramp, where one person was pronounced dead at the scene. ABC7 (KABC) reported that officers were pursuing a red vehicle shortly after 4 a.m. and that the chase began on the westbound 10 Freeway near Azusa Avenue and ended on a freeway exit at Francisquito Avenue, according to a CHP spokesperson.

Source: ABC7 / KABC via US Times Mirror

Paramedics rushed three other people to hospital, where two later died from their injuries; the condition of the third person was not immediately clear, the CHP said. SGV CityWatch, reporting updates from the CHP's Traffic Management Center, said Officer Dean confirmed by a 7:10 a.m. update that three people were now dead — one at the scene and two after transport — and that the survivor's condition was not immediately known. Officer Garcia of the CHP gave the first account of the pursuit, which CityWatch said was run by officers from the CHP's Baldwin Park office.

Source: SGV CityWatch

CityWatch also reported that it was not immediately clear whether the person killed at the scene was a passenger. Neither the CHP nor the hospitals had released the names, ages or cities of the people who died by midday Saturday, and the CHP had not said which vehicle each of the dead was travelling in, whether the driver officers tried to stop was among the dead or the injured, or what charges, if any, are being considered. Those details normally come only after the Los Angeles County medical examiner identifies the dead and notifies their families.

A closed ramp and a SigAlert on the Saturday-morning freeway

The crash shut down the Francisquito Avenue on-ramp for an unknown duration, MyNewsLA reported, and ABC7 said a SigAlert — the California alert issued for a major, lengthy traffic disruption — was issued and was expected to last for an unknown duration. CityWatch reported the Francisquito Avenue off-ramp from the westbound I-10 closed until further notice while officers worked the scene. Drivers crossing the San Gabriel Valley on Saturday morning were left to route around the closure on surface streets and neighbouring ramps.

Why this short stretch of the I-10 matters

The San Bernardino Freeway (Interstate 10) is the main east–west artery across the San Gabriel Valley, linking downtown Los Angeles with West Covina, Covina, San Dimas and the Inland Empire beyond. It carries heavy commuter traffic on weekdays and a constant flow of freight trucks at almost every hour, including the pre-dawn hours when this chase began — the Azusa Avenue to Francisquito Avenue hop is a short, fast stretch that a vehicle covers in a couple of minutes, exactly the span the CHP described for the whole pursuit. Baldwin Park and West Covina sit along one of the most Punjabi- and South Asian-settled corridors of the eastern San Gabriel Valley, and I-10 is a daily route for local families as well as for Punjabi truck drivers running between Los Angeles-area warehouses and the Inland Empire's logistics yards.

What happens next

The CHP's investigation into the crash is continuing, and its findings will decide whether the case goes to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office for possible criminal charges — in a pursuit that began as a suspected-DUI stop, those decisions are made only after investigators reconstruct the crash and interview the survivor and witnesses. Any charge would be an allegation, not a finding of guilt. The Francisquito ramp reopens only when the CHP finishes its on-scene work, and the medical examiner's identifications are expected to be the next confirmed details released. Readers who were on the westbound I-10 near Azusa Avenue around 4:10 a.m. and saw the pursuit or the crash are the witnesses investigators most need.