At least one person was killed in a multi-car crash in Fountain Valley after police were chasing an arson suspect Monday night.
Officers responded to a home on the 18000 block of Arches Court to reports of arson where a person had allegedly poured lighter fluid onto a bush and set it on fire.
The fire began to spread toward a home but residents were able to put out the fire before officers arrived.
At around 10 p.m., officers located an unoccupied white Dodge Ram that they believed to belong to the arson suspect at a parking lot in the 17900 block of Brookhurst in Fountain Valley.
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The arson suspect was identified as 43-year-old Timothy Bradford Cole from Huntington Beach.
Cole was seen getting into the Dodge Ram and headed toward Brookhurst Street where, upon seeing the officers, fled the scene.
The short pursuit ended in a crash at the intersection of Ellis Avenue and Magnolia Street between the Dodge Ram and a white BMW X3.
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Three people in the BMW were transported to a local trauma center, and Cole was transported to a trauma center in Long Beach.
A 25-year-old woman from Huntington Beach who was a passenger in the BMW was pronounced dead on the way to the trauma center.
The other two victims are listed in critical and stable condition, and Cole is listed in serious condition with non-life-threatening injuries.
There were no further details on the identification of the woman who was killed. The conditions of the other injured victims was not yet known.
The crash prompted some road closures in the area, affecting the Roch Courregas Elementary School located nearby.
Anyone with information about the crash is urged to call the Fountain Valley Police Department at 714-593-4485.
