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Street racing may be behind Chula Vista pileup

Posted at 5:42 PM, Apr 27, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-28 16:33:49-04

A teenager and an 18-year-old were facing possible criminal charges Thursday in the aftermath of a suspected street-racing wreck that injured one of them and two other people at a South Bay intersection.

The 17-year-old boy and 18-year-old man were speeding on East H Street in Chula Vista when their cars struck a slower-moving vehicle at Paseo del Rey shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday, according to police.

The impact forced the innocent motorist's car into across a center median and into oncoming traffic, where it hit a city bus that was stopped at a transit stop to load passengers.

The pileup left the driver whose car had been hit by the speeding vehicles with serious but non-life-threatening trauma, police said. The teen and a bus passenger suffered minor injuries. Medics took all three to hospitals.

Several witnesses told officers the suspects, whose names were withheld, appeared to be engaged in a speed contest at the time of the accident.

They were questioned and released pending further investigation and a review by the San Diego County District Attorney's Office.

The incident caused the closure of the westbound lanes of East H Street in Chula Vista and snarled traffic in the area for hours.

Sky10 reported live on the rush hour pileup during 10News broadcasts Wednesday night.