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Name Not Disclosed

Age : 14

Gender : Female

Race : White

Date : 02/20/2024

Location : Ventura and Balboa

City : Encino

County : Los Angeles

State : California

Agency : LAPD

Officer(s) :Withheld

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Passenger killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 02/20/2024, Los Angeles Police Department officers observed a Toyota Camry traveling at night near Ventura Boulevard and Balboa Boulevard in Encino with its headlights off and began following the vehicle. LAPD later stated officers “followed” the vehicle and did not initiate a formal pursuit. However, according to police accounts, the driver accelerated at high speed after becoming aware of police presence behind the vehicle. From a behavioral standpoint, occupants would have perceived an active police presence behind them regardless of internal classification as “following” versus pursuit.
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Investigative summaries indicate the vehicle continued at a high rate of speed through the Encino area before losing control and crashing into a pole, resulting in a severe collision and fire. Police described the crash as a single-vehicle collision and stated no PIT maneuver, ramming, or direct vehicle contact occurred. Public reporting does not disclose the exact speed of either the fleeing vehicle or the police unit while "following" at significant speeds, leaving an evidentiary gap regarding the pace and proximity of the police vehicle during the sequence.
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The vehicle contained multiple juveniles, including a 14-year-old girl seated in the rear seat and a 16-year-old female passenger who survived with injuries. The 14-year-old became trapped in the back seat after the crash as the vehicle ignited and was unable to escape the fire. Officers who had been following the vehicle attempted to extinguish flames and render aid but were unable to extract her before the vehicle became fully engulfed. She died from crash and fire-related injuries. No later reporting indicates any additional fatalities connected to this incident.
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Pursuit Classification Clarification:
LAPD publicly characterized the encounter as officers “following” the vehicle rather than initiating a pursuit. The available narrative relies on police classification language distinguishing “following” from pursuit, while the vehicle’s acceleration and subsequent loss of control occurred during active high-speed police presence behind it.
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Officer Identification and Accountability:
The identities of the involved LAPD officers who were following the vehicle have not been publicly released in standard media coverage or department summaries. The crash was investigated by LAPD traffic investigators with internal oversight review. As of available reporting, no charges against officers were announced and no disciplinary findings were prominently publicized.
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The victim’s identity was not publicly released due to her status as a minor. No widely indexed civil rights lawsuit or major federal litigation tied to the incident has been prominently documented in major reporting databases, and forensic details such as officer speed, exact following distance, and in-vehicle telemetry have not been publicly disclosed.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-02-21/lapd-involvement-crash-teen-killed-encino
https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/lapd-statement-teen-crash-encino-2024/
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/lapd-teen-crash-encino-following-incident/