ENCINO, CA : 14-year-old identified as driver in deadly Encino crash on Tuesday, 20th February 2024

A 14-year-old girl was behind the wheel of a car that crashed and erupted in flames in Encino overnight, leaving one passenger dead.

The single-vehicle crash happened around 12:15 a.m. Tuesday near Ventura and Balboa boulevards, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Police say officers initially tried to pull over the car for not having headlights on.

Instead of stopping, police say the teen driver sped away. A short time later, the car crashed into a traffic light pole.

Dramatic video shows officers trying to extinguish the flames that enveloped the vehicle and trying to smash the windows to get the rear passenger out.

There were three people inside the car. The driver and the front passenger, identified only as an 18-year-old woman, were pulled out of the vehicle with minor injuries. Police said one had a broken leg.

A 16-year-old female passenger in the backseat was trapped in the vehicle, police said, and was declared dead at the scene. The family of that victim brought flowers to the crash scene but did not want to comment.

Howard Raishbrook, a photographer who tried to help the victims, described the harrowing scene.

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