Three men are dead after a driver, feeling from a Pinal County Sheriff’s deputy, lost control of his vehicle. The accident occured on Tuesday, just before 11:00 a.m. near Schnepf Road and Hash Knife Draw in San Tan Valley.
According to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy “attempted to do a traffic stop on a silver passenger car for an expired temporary vehicle registration and excessive speed. The driver of the vehicle did not pull over for deputies and took off at a high rate of speed. The deputy initiated a very brief pursuit, but the vehicle was traveling very fast and before the deputy could catch up to the vehicle, the driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a cement barricade.”
The passengers, a 16-year-old and two 18-year-olds were pronounced dead at the scene. The victims were not wearing seat belts. The 17-year-old driver, who was wearing a seat belt, was taken to the hospital for minor injuries.
the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office reports that “marijuana and dangerous drugs” were found in the vehicle along with a “large amount of cash and several weapons to include an AR15, an MP40 style sub machine gun, a shotgun and two handguns.”
The driver admitted to deputies to being under the influence of marijuana at the time of the crash.
The driver faces several charges to include three counts of first degree murder under the “felony murder” rule and felony flight.