3 dead, 3 injured after Tesla crashes into light poles, building in Pasadena

Police believe the driver of a Tesla Model 3 may have been speeding and failed to negotiate a curve on Foothill Boulevard near Vista Avenue.

Three people were killed and three others were taken to hospitals after a single-car crash that briefly knocked out power to nearby homes and businesses in Pasadena on Saturday morning, May 11, authorities said.

All six people, ages 17 to 22, were in a Tesla Model 3 sedan headed westbound on Foothill Boulevard when the driver failed to negotiate a curve, causing the car to hit the curb just after 2:35 a.m., Pasadena Lt. Anthony Russo said.

“That put the vehicle into the air,” Russo said, before the car hit two city light poles, a power pole and a building at the corner of Foothill and Vista Avenue before coming to rest several hundred feet west of the building.

Police believe speed was a factor in the crash, Russo said.

“The vehicle was very badly damaged,” the lieutenant said.

“There was evidence at the scene that alcohol may have been involved, but it’s too soon for us to tell if the driver was impaired or if any of the occupants were under the influence,” the lieutenant said.

Investigators planned to look into whether the autopilot feature was engaged at the time of the crash, Russo said.

The three people who died, including the driver, were men between the ages of 18 and 21, Russo said. The conditions of the other three people, 2 females and a male whose exact ages weren’t immediately available, were not known, but city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said they had substantial injuries.

As of around 11 a.m., power was restored, except for a few businesses, she said.

The westbound lanes of Foothill Boulevard curve slightly to the left as a driver approaches Vista Avenue from Sierra Madre Boulevard.

Further information about the car’s occupants was not available on Saturday morning. Those who died were not identified by authorities pending notification of relatives.