INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

San Francisco Cab Crash Kills Three

By Ryan Anthony
Published on: 04:05 PST, Feb 7, 2016

Three people were killed in San Francisco Saturday (February 6) after a car fleeing from police crashed into a taxi cab near celebrations for Sunday’s (February 7) Super Bowl.

According to ABC 7 in the San Francisco Bay area, the accident occurred after a police officer pursuing a driver of a car driving dangerously called off the chase.

“Just before 9:30 p.m. CHP officers say they saw a white Chevy sedan doing donuts near 5th and Bryant in San Francisco,” reported ABC 7‘s Elissa Harrington. “They tried to pull the driver over, but he took off and blew through several red lights. The CHP says that is when the officer stopped the pursuit because he thought it was too dangerous and turned off his lights, but the driver kept going.”

The result was a deadly crash the killed the occupants of the fleeing car, not far from revelers in the San Francisco Bay Area, who were celebrating the 50th Super Bowl, taking place later today.

Fox 2 in San Francisco said the impact of the accident caused the car to burst into flames after it ejected one of the occupants.

“Williams said the suspect vehicle burst into flames and as fire crews worked to extinguish the fire, found two bodies inside.

“A third body was found ejected from a vehicle near the crash site, however Williams said they were uncertain on whether the body came from the suspect vehicle or not.”

The station went onto note that the taxi driver sustained mild injuries as a result of the accident, but at this time it is not believed that any other individuals were injured or killed as a result of the accident.

The site of the accident was near Super Bowl City, where tens of thousands of spectators in San Francisco Bay have been taking in the sights and sounds, and reveling in the Super Bowl game to take place between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers.

The San Francisco Chronicle noted that the city’s police department spent upwards of $1.5 million just last week to defend the city from threats relating to the Super Bowl, which is actually taking place some 40 miles south of the city in Santa Clara, California. The stadium, Levi’s Stadium, is the new home of the San Francisco 49ers after the team left its previous home in San Francisco proper.

With the massive area of land to protect from San Francisco to San Jose and the massive amounts of land and water between the various Super Bowl celebration sites, the San Francisco Chronicle says many different departments are taking part in the security effort to prevent incidents like what happened last night on the streets of the city.

“‘Just on the law enforcement side, there have to be at least 25 agencies involved,’ said Mark Pazin of the California Office of Emergency Services.

” ‘I’m not going to give you exact numbers, but we have several hundred officers — not only from the Bay Area but from surrounding areas,’ said Paul Fontana, chief of the California Highway Patrol’s Golden Gate Division.

“And it’s not just San Francisco: Law enforcement patrols have been stepped up from Monterey to Sonoma County and as far east as Sacramento.”

Law enforcement agencies have not shared any specific threat information, but the state of California is still on alert to potential terror attacks following the attack last year in San Bernardino that left 12 dead and several others injured. The attack was carried out by a husband and wife duo, who opened fire on a workplace party. It was categorized as a “lone wolf” attack, which are harder to prepare for than more organized events that have been stopped in the U.S. and elsewhere. But as the Paris terror attacks showed, even organized cells can go under the radar.

[Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images]

Share this article: San Francisco Cab Crash Kills Three
super bowl San Francisco
More from Inquisitr