A speeding car that slammed into a firetruck near West Compton early Tuesday, killing a man and a woman in the car, was being chased by the man’s ex-girlfriend, according to the woman’s family.
About 12:31 a.m., a Los Angeles County Fire Department truck on Avalon Boulevard was hit by a Chrysler PT Cruiser going through the intersection “at a high rate of speed” on Compton Boulevard, according to California Highway Patrol spokesperson Angelia Gonzales. Three other cars were involved in the crash.
The man and woman in their 20s inside the Chrysler were pronounced dead at the scene. Four firefighters inside the firetruck were hospitalized with minor injuries. No one else was injured.
Some media reports cited a witness and the CHP as saying that the car was believed to have been involved in a street race, but the woman’s family asserted that wasn’t the case.
The woman was identified as 25-year-old Los Angeles resident Asia Allen-Bookman, her sister Tiffany Acker told The Times. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office hasn’t released the names of the deceased as of Wednesday afternoon, pending family notification.
Acker, 35, said that her sister had gotten into her friend’s car and that they were most likely driving back from a video shoot and dropping Allen-Bookman at her workplace. The friend worked as an influencer, and Acker believes her sister met him about two to three weeks ago and started spending time with him.
During the drive, Allen-Bookman called a friend in a panic and told her they were being chased by the ex-girlfriend of the male driver, according to Acker. She told her friend she needed help and to meet them at Avalon and Compton boulevards. Her friend drove from Long Beach and arrived to the aftermath of the crash.
“She was hysterically crying,” Acker said about her sister. “I’m assuming that my sister was seeing her life flash before her eyes. She knew there was no way out.”
The driver of the vehicle chasing them, which was a silver or white car of an unknown make and model, fled the scene, Acker said. She shot down the speculation that the crash resulted from a street chase.
“It’s impossible for a PT Cruiser to street race,” she said. “It wasn’t road rage. They were being chased. And I just want that to be out there. They weren’t street racing, and normally the street takeovers around that area take place on Saturday and Sunday.”
Allen-Bookman had attended Cal State East Bay for a year and was planning on going back to school for business administration, according to Acker. She had worked at Walmart and rose through the ranks at Target.
One of five siblings, Allen-Bookman lost her mother when she was 12 years old. She was a loving mother to her own 3-year-old daughter, who is now being cared for by her father and aunts and uncle, Acker said.
“She loved life,” Acker said. “I’d like to say she was in her cocoon stage of life and trying to blossom into a butterfly.”
A GoFundMe page has been created to raise money for Allen-Bookman’s funeral costs. A vigil for Allen-Bookman has also been scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the crash site.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
