Three killed, at least one injured at multi-vehicle crash in Lynwood

LYNWOOD — The coroner's office Monday confirmed the identities of two of the three people killed in a multi-vehicle crash Monday in Lynwood.

Flavio Balderas was a 60-year-old Compton resident and James Griffin was a 20-year-old resident of Los Angeles, the coroner's office said.

Dozens of people gathered at the crash site Sunday to hold a vigil and mourn the deaths of three people, ABC7 reported.

Relatives told reporters at the scene that Flavio Balderas and his wife Micaela were returning home from a quinceanera when their vehicle was struck by a speeding vehicle. Micaela Balderas died at a hospital, relatives said. The coroner's office had not yet confirmed her identity.

Griffin was a passenger in the speeding vehicle, FOX11 reported.

The drama began in South Gate when a police officer saw what he believed was a catalytic converter theft in progress, the station reported. That's when the would-be thief fled the scene, prompting a police pursuit.

Channel 7 reported the crash happened just after the pursuit was stopped because conditions were too dangerous.

Firefighters and paramedics were dispatched at 2:10 a.m. Sunday to State Street and Tweedy Boulevard in Lynwood, according to a Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatcher, who said paramedics rushed two people to a hospital.

One person died at a hospital and two people died at the crash scene, according to a watch commander at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Century station. The sheriff's department was handling the crash investigation.

The condition of a second hospitalized person was not immediately known.

The crash involved multiple vehicles with a person possibly trapped inside a vehicle, according to sources at the scene.