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A suspected DUI crash on the 405 Freeway in Carson early this morning resulted in three deaths, including one person who had been a passenger in an Uber and had gotten out of the car to help.
ABC-7 reports that just before 1 a.m., the driver of a Prius, who is now believed to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time, crashed into a pickup truck on the 405 just before Wilmington Avenue in Carson. The impact of the crash caused both vehicles to veer into the carpool lane, leaving "debris strewn across all of the lanes."
According to City News Service, an Uber driver noticed the scene and pulled over, and its passenger got out of the car to offer help—NBC L.A. writes that the passenger "ran across the freeway" to the scene of the crash. Then, a Toyota Camry that had been reportedly driving at normal freeway speeds attempted to swerve around the Uber passenger, but crashed into him and the two people who were in the pickup truck.
CBS L.A. writes that all three were pronounced dead at the scene. Their identities are being withheld pending family notification, but they are believed to be men in the 20s and 30s.
The CHP says that the driver of the Prius was arrested on suspicion of DUI. All northbound lanes of the 405 were closed past Wilmington for a few hours, but reopened around 6 a.m.
