Three dead, two seriously injured in street racing crash in Burbank, police say

Three people were killed and two others were seriously injured in a fiery three-car crash in Burbank early Wednesday morning that investigators believed stemmed from street racing.

The three who died, who were traveling in a Volkswagen sedan, were not involved in the street racing, said Sgt. Emil Brimway of the Burbank Police Department.

They were identified by the L.A. County coroner’s office as 19-year-old Natale Maghaddam, 20-year-old Jaiden Johnson and 21-year-old Cerian Baker, who is the son of comedian and actor Tony Baker.

Several celebrities, including David Allen Grier and Wanda Sykes, have expressed condolences to Baker and his family on social media.

At around 12:15 a.m. near Andover Drive and Glenoaks Boulevard, the Volkswagen was broadsided by two cars that appeared to be racing while making a left turn, Brimway said.

The driver and two passengers in the Volkswagen were pronounced dead at the scene. A female passenger was taken to a trauma center with serious injuries.

The driver of one of the other cars, a Kia, was also taken to a hospital with serious injuries, according to the Police Department. Two people in the third car, a Mercedes-Benz, were unharmed, Brimway said.

Video footage of the scene showed a car sheared nearly in half.

“It is frustrating and difficult to see something like this,” Brimway said. “This is a tragedy that could have been avoided.”

No one has been arrested or cited, and Burbank police are investigating the crash.