The innocent woman was identified as 25-year-old Hong Ngoc Nguyen. Hetty Chang reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024.
A police pursuit that killed an innocent woman began as an arson investigation in Fountain Valley, police said Tuesday.
The pursuit lasted only a minute but the driver, identified as 43-year-old Timothy Bradford Cole, was going 90 miles per hour in a Dodge Ram truck, according to Fountain Valley police.
Cole ran a red light at Magnolia and Ellis and crashed into a BMW SVU, killing 25-year-old Hong Ngoc Nguyen inside.
Before the deadly crash, Cole had set a fire at his future brother-in-law’s house in Fountain Valley by pouring lighter fluid onto the front yard.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
“I saw the person I know to be my future brother in law light my house on fire,” Shane Schmidt, the homeowner, said, adding he does not know what triggered Cole to start the fire.
Neighbors were able to quickly put out the flames.
About two and a half hours after the arson was reported, officers spotted Cole getting into his truck near Brookhurst. As they tried to stop him, Cole allegedly took off, leading police on the chase that ended in tragedy.
“In this case, officers were barely in a pursuit,” Sgt. Henry Hsu with Fountain Valley police said. “Time was short, and the suspect gained an incredible amount of speed on his own, and unfortunately it ended in this fatality.”
Cole and three people in the BMW were rushed to a hospital, including Nguyen who was later declared dead.
“Absolutely mortified and disgusted,” Schmidt said. “There’s no reason to have escalated to such a thing to be so reckless. To know that somebody’s little girl is not coming back home is just unbearable.”
Cole was hospitalized with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Once released, the suspect is expected to be booked on a number of felony charges.
