1 dead, 4 hospitalized after pursuit ends in grisly rollover crash in Fountain Valley
One person is dead and three others are hospitalized after a pursuit ended with a grisly rollover crash in Fountain Valley on Monday evening.
What began as alleged arson earlier in the night ended when the suspect driver, being pursued by police for the arson, crashed into another car, killing a 25-year-old female passenger identified as Hong Ngoc Nguyen. She was a foreign exchange student from Vietnam, police said.
Two victims who were in the car that was hit are in critical and stable condition. the suspect driver, identified as 43-year-old Timothy Bradford Cole from Huntington Beach, was hospitalized in serious condition with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Fountain Valley Police Department.
Cole was booked at Orange County Jail on Wednesday after being released from the hospital, police said.
"At this time, the felony charges against Cole include murder, eluding a peace officer causing death to a person, and arson," said a release from FVPD.
The two other victims have since been released from the hospital.
The series of events Monday evening that led up to the pursuit crash, began with a 7:30 p.m. house fire on Arches Court.
Police responded to the house after residents called about a fire at the home that they were able to put out themselves. According to police, as a result of an ongoing domestic dispute, a known suspect had lit a bush on fire near the home causing flames to spread to the residence.
A short distance away, police were able to locate the suspect's unoccupied Dodge Ram truck in a parking lot on Brookhurst Street. The suspect entered the truck around 10 p.m. and officers surveilling the vehicle started a brief, but speedy pursuit.
Traveling less than a mile under one minute, the suspect driver crashed into a white BMW X3 after running a red light at the intersection of Ellis Avenue and Magnolia Street. Three people in the BMW were taken to a hospital, as well as the suspect.
SkyCal flew over the spot of the collision Monday, where a severely mangled BMW could be seen stopped on a curb. Hundreds of feet away was the overturned pickup truck that was allegedly being driven by the suspect.
Specific charges against Cole are pending, according to FVPD.
