2 die in fiery crash as Lexus slams into Huntington Beach apartments

Two men died after their car crashed into a Huntington Beach apartment complex and caught fire early Friday, authorities said.

Officers responded to the area of Warner Avenue and Edwards Street at 2:14 a.m. after receiving calls about the crash, said Jennifer Marlatt, public information officer for the Huntington Beach Police Department.

A black Lexus had crashed into the Casa Monterey Apartments on the northeast corner of Warner Avenue and Edwards Street, and the Lexus had caught fire.

Good Samaritans pulled the two men out of the Lexus, into the street and away from the fire, Marlatt said. They attempted CPR but officers and fire department personnel determined that the two men, the sole occupants of the car, were dead.

Both vicitms were 18 years old and from Palos Verdes, police said. Their names are being withheld pending identification of their next of kin.

A toxicology report will determine if alcohol was a factor in the crash, Marlatt said.

The black Lexus apparently was traveling south on Edwards Street from Heil Avenue at high speed, authorities said. As it went over the flood control channel bridge it lost control and crashed into the apartment building.

The collision did not cause structural damage to the apartment complex, although apartments were evacuated. Police did not immediately know how many people were evacuated.

Authorities also found a silver Volkswagen Jetta and a white Audi parked near the scene. Authorities interviewed the occupants of those cars to determine if they were involved in the crash or if they were witnesses to the crash.

Marlatt said the five occupants in the two vehicles were friends of the two men who died.

Police ask anyone with information about the crash to call Huntington Beach Police accident investigator Robert Barr at 714-536-5666 or accident investigator Josh Page at 714-536-5670.