One person was killed and another suffered injuries in a high-speed crash that scattered debris, including the car's engine, for hundreds of feet Tuesday morning on a Newport Beach street.
The single-car crash involving a Mercedes-Benz occurred near 23rd Street and Balboa Boulevard about 1:15 a.m. Newport Beach began pursuing the driver just after 1 a.m. on Balboa Street.
It was not immediately clear what led to the chase.
A witness told a news photographer at the scene that car was traveling at high speed along Balboa Boulevard when Newport Beach police attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver fled and crashed into a pole in a center divider. The driver was traveling at times in excess of 100 mph, witnesses said.
The car shattered when it struck a palm tree or pole, scattering debris across the road and hurling the engine into a SUV parked nearby.
"This was a pretty bad crash," said CHP Officer Florentino Olivera. "You have the vehicle that hit the palm tree. You have an engine that's about 200 feet north of that location. And, a tire that's probably about 300 feet north of that location."
The driver, identified as a man in his 20s, died at the scene.
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A woman, who was wearing a seat belt in the passenger's seat, was injured. Details about her condition were not immediately available.
The California Highway Patrol closed several streets in the area for an investigation.
