Wrong-way driver leads CHP officers on brief pursuit before triggering deadly crash in Commerce

Police on Sunday said that a wrong-way driver prompted a brief pursuit in the city of Commerce that ended with a violent and deadly two-car crash.

The incident happened at around 11 p.m. Saturday evening, when California Highway Patrol officers attempted to pull over an alleged wrong-way driver near Eastern Avenue and Florence Avenue, according to a statement from the department. 

Instead, the driver fled, initiating the pursuit that ended just before 11:15 p.m. near Eastern Avenue and Randolph Street. It was there that Los Angeles County Fire Department crews were dispatched after learning that a person on a bench was killed in the impact of the crash. 

On Monday, the victim was identified as 16-year-old Long Beach resident Rodolfo Rodriguez III by the Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner.

A pedestrian who was walking across a cross walk in the street also had their legs severed as a result of the collision, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's East Los Angeles station. 

Paramedics pronounced one of the pedestrians dead at the scene. Two other people inside of the suspect's vehicle suffered "extensive injuries" and were rushed to a nearby hospital. 

The driver was briefly treated at a hospital before being taken into custody. 

Two other people suffered minor injuries in the crash, firefighters said. It's unclear if they were hospitalized. 

"We're still working backwards to figure out what has happened," CHP officials said.