13-year-old fleeing police in mom’s SUV runs over, kills two men, California cops say

When a police officer pulled over a Ford Explorer for a traffic violation late Friday night in Escondido, California, nothing initially seemed out of the ordinary.

“What the officer didn’t know at the time, is that the car was being driven by a 13 year-old girl from Vista who took her mom’s car without her knowing,” a police news release says. The girl’s passenger also was a juvenile, police say.

The 13-year-old driver took off, then lost control making a turn and crashed into a roadside planter about 11:20 p.m., a police news release says.

The two teens inside were unhurt, but then police discovered two men had been sleeping in the bushes in the planter, the release says. One of the men died at the scene and the other died of his injuries a short time later at a hospital.

Police and medical examiners are working to identify the men, who appear to have been homeless and had no ID, the release says.

The two girls were arrested and released to their parents, police say.

A drunken driver later hit a parked police car with its lights on blocking the road while officers conducted their investigation of the earlier accident, police say.

No one was hurt in the second collision. The driver was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, police reported.

Police asked that anyone with information on the two men call Officer Adan Martinez at (760) 839-4465. Anonymous tips can be left by calling the department’s tip line at (760) 743-8477.

This story was originally published February 14, 2021 at 2:40 PM with the headline "13-year-old fleeing police in mom’s SUV runs over, kills two men, California cops say."