Two teenage girls died Tuesday when the taxi cab they were riding in crashed after one teen slashed the driver's face, police said.
The unidentified driver was taken to a local hospital and released after receiving treatment for minor injuries including cuts to his neck and face, Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Officer April Harding said.
The cabbie say the two 17-year-old girls flagged him down 12:30 a.m. in Boyle Heights and asked to be taken to the nearby Ramona Gardens housing project, police said.
The girls were Alexous Ann Sandoval and Daisy Orozco, both Los Angeles residents, Craig Harvey of the coroner's office said.
When they pulled up, one girl said her boyfriend would come down to pay their fare. Instead, he approached the cab with a gun, Harding said.
The cab driver apparently sped away with the women still in the back seat.
"The cab driver got scared," Harding said. "One of the females pulled out a box cutter and began cutting the taxi cab driver and that's what caused him to crash."
It appeared the cab driver believed he was being followed by a gunman, police said. Two men were detained and being questioned about the incident, Harding said.
Both girls were thrown from the cab and died.
"It is just something bizarre and it is something tragic that happens," Harding said.
Police have detained two men in connection with events leading up to the fatal crash.
The men, both in their early 20s, reportedly knew the crash victims and are suspected of plotting with them to rob the taxi driver.
Police, meanwhile, were trying to determine whether the cab was licensed.
"There doesn't appear to be any of the seals that normally we would see on a licensed taxicab, but I don't know if that's because of the collision," said Lt. Ruben de la Torre.
http://ktla.trb.com/news/ktla-taxicrash,0,7740928.story
The unidentified driver was taken to a local hospital and released after receiving treatment for minor injuries including cuts to his neck and face, Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Officer April Harding said.
The cabbie say the two 17-year-old girls flagged him down 12:30 a.m. in Boyle Heights and asked to be taken to the nearby Ramona Gardens housing project, police said.
The girls were Alexous Ann Sandoval and Daisy Orozco, both Los Angeles residents, Craig Harvey of the coroner's office said.
When they pulled up, one girl said her boyfriend would come down to pay their fare. Instead, he approached the cab with a gun, Harding said.
The cab driver apparently sped away with the women still in the back seat.
"The cab driver got scared," Harding said. "One of the females pulled out a box cutter and began cutting the taxi cab driver and that's what caused him to crash."
It appeared the cab driver believed he was being followed by a gunman, police said. Two men were detained and being questioned about the incident, Harding said.
Both girls were thrown from the cab and died.
"It is just something bizarre and it is something tragic that happens," Harding said.
Police have detained two men in connection with events leading up to the fatal crash.
The men, both in their early 20s, reportedly knew the crash victims and are suspected of plotting with them to rob the taxi driver.
Police, meanwhile, were trying to determine whether the cab was licensed.
"There doesn't appear to be any of the seals that normally we would see on a licensed taxicab, but I don't know if that's because of the collision," said Lt. Ruben de la Torre.
http://ktla.trb.com/news/ktla-taxicrash,0,7740928.story
