CSUN student death resulting from a police pursuit, prompts safety questions

A Cal State Northridge sophomore was driving home from work early Thursday morning when a vehicle being pursued by police crashed into his car – killing the young man at the scene.

Later Thursday, a curbside memorial at Lindley Avenue and Roscoe Blvd. in Northridge popped up for 19-year-old Eric Barbosa-Guardado at the site where the crash occurred.

There, his aunt Socorro Barbosa, tearfully said something needs to be done. 

"I feel so mad because it's not right. This happened with my nephew. It's not right, please do something," said Barbosa. "He was a really good boy."

The LAPD says the short deadly chase started after officers tried to pull over the suspects as the suspect vehicle was correlated with a San Fernando armed robbery.

Police attempted to pull the vehicle over, but the driver did not yield, prompting the pursuit. Less than one mile later, the suspect's SUV ran a red light at Roscoe and Lindley and crashed into Barbosa's Honda Civic at the intersection, killing Barbosa.

Barbosa is the latest innocent victim killed in recent weeks during police pursuits. In January, a high-speed pursuit of a stolen car in panorama city killed two men in their car. In early February, a married couple was killed in a crash in Lynwood by two suspects running from South Gate police who had just called off the chase.

Jon Farris with a national pursuit victims advocacy group, Pursuit for Change, takes on the cause of pursuit reform very seriously. His 23-year-old son was killed in a police pursuit 16 years ago.

"When that person decides to run, they are immediately a danger," said Farris.  He said he finds it very difficult to fault law enforcement if they are pursuing a violent felon.

The Pursuit for Change advocacy group wants to see new pursuit policy and is pushing for police to use tracking technology, when it's not a serious offense.

At Thursday's Northridge crash scene, the male driver of the suspect SUV was taken into custody and the second suspect fled and still has not been found.

Police found a loaded rifle inside the suspect's SUV. 

Barbosa was majoring in civil engineering, with a minor in theater at CSUN.