Three die as truck careens into pool after crash in police chase, California cops say

A pickup truck being pursued by California police early Friday collided with a car, sheared off a fire hydrant and crashed through a wall to land upside-down in a swimming pool, officers say.

Garden Grove police say three people died in the 2:12 a.m. crash, two in the pickup truck and the driver of the other car, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Michael Clugston, 39, was driving to work an overtime shift because his wife had just been laid off when the fleeing Dodge Ram slammed into his car, killing him, KTLA reported.

“I don’t know how to go on without him,” wife Stefanie Clugston told the station. “You were my rock. I’m glad we got some time together. I just wish it would have been longer.”

Sal Fernandez, 34, and Joseph Mendoza, 28, died in the pickup truck, KNBC reported.

A police officer tried to pull over the Dodge Ram after spotting it speeding out of a parking lot, KCBS reported. Instead, the driver took off, leading police on a two-mile chase before hitting Clugston’s car in the intersection of Euclid Street and Orangewood Avenue.

The crash flipped Clugston’s car and sent the pickup truck careening through a fire hydrant and block wall into a backyard swimming pool, the Orange County Fire Authority reported.

“It was like a big bang,” said Annette Agosta, who was asleep inside the home with her two roommates, KCBS reported.

A police officer dove into the pool to try to save the driver, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. After officials removed the truck from the pool at 11:30 a.m., they found a passenger’s body, KNBC reported.

Clugston died after being taken to a hospital, KTLA reported.

This story was originally published March 14, 2021 at 8:04 AM with the headline "Three die as truck careens into pool after crash in police chase, California cops say."