2 killed, 1 injured in Lake Balboa crash after car speeds through red light, LAPD says

Alexandra E. Petri
·1 min read
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VAN NUYS, CA-FEBRUARY 8, 2023:Members of the Los Angeles County Coroner's office look at the remains of a Chevy Corvette that ended up in a shopping center after crashing into a Honda Accord at the intersection of Balboa Blvd. and Victory Blvd. in Van Nuys. According to LAPD Sgt. Hector Gutierrez, at approximately 3:45 am this morning, the driver of the Corvette, a male, was traveling an estimated 90 to 100 mph, heading north on Balboa Blvd. and crashed into a Honda Accord, driven by a woman in her forties, traveling east on Victory Blvd. Both drivers of the cars died as a result. It is believed that the driver of the Corvette went through a red light. The passenger in the Corvette, a male, was taken to a hospital with severe injuries. There were no passengers in the Honda Accord. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Members of the Los Angeles County coroner's office look at the wreckage of a Chevrolet Corvette that ended up in a shopping center after crashing into a Honda Accord at the intersection of Balboa and Victory boulevards in Lake Balboa. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Two people were dead and another was critically injured after a car crash in the Lake Balboa area early Wednesday.

Around 3:46 a.m., a Chevrolet Corvette was speeding north on Balboa Boulevard and is believed to have failed to stop at a traffic light when it collided with a Honda SUV that was traveling east on Victory Boulevard, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

Two people were trapped in the wreckage and transported by ambulance to a hospital in critical condition, said Brian Humphrey, spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The driver of the Honda, a woman in her 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene. The Corvette driver and a passenger were hospitalized, LAPD Lt. Matthew Bielski told KTLA-TV Channel 5.

The Corvette driver later died at the hospital, Officer Robert Carter with the LAPD's Valley Traffic Division confirmed. The passenger remains at the hospital.

Footage from KTLA showed the Honda upside down in the street and the Corvette at least 50 feet away in a strip mall parking lot. A sign for the strip mall was destroyed, and the area was strewn with debris.

The Corvette's entire front end was sheared from the car, and windows of a nearby storefront were shattered.

The Valley Traffic Division is leading the investigation into the crash.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.