1 of 3 victims in fiery San Francisco crash identified
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Three people inside a vehicle that led California Highway Patrol officers on a brief pursuit Saturday night died after their vehicle struck a taxi and caught fire in San Francisco's SOMA neighborhood.
The family has identified one of those killed as a young Pittsburg man.
Cellphone video shows Saturday night's fiery car crash at 9th and Brannan Streets.
Three friends who had just been at the NFL Experience died after they ran from police and crashed. Now the family has identified one of them as 23-year-old Pittsburg resident Roland Zanie.
His stepmother says she's in shock and keeps expecting him to walk through the door. Friends of the victims dropped off flowers, balloons and a teddy bear.
The CHP says an officer first spotted a white Chevy sedan doing donuts near 5th and Bryant Street. ABC7 News found the tire tracks.
That officer followed them but the car sped off, blowing through red lights. According to the CHP, that's where the pursuit ended.
"Our officer determined that the continuation of that enforcement stop or pursuit, if you will, was too dangerous due to roadway conditions, traffic conditions. And so he discontinued the pursuit," CHP Ofc. Vu Williams said.
The driver didn't stop. The car slammed into a taxi and burst into flames.
There's still broken glass on the scene and the fire was so intense it blackened the street.
The medical examiner has not yet been able to identify all of those people who were in the car but on Sunday, loved ones came by and spelled out the name Dave in candles.
The cab driver was taken to a hospital but will be OK.
Zanie's stepmother says his father is a deputy sheriff with the San Francisco Sheriff's Department.
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