Two pedestrians were struck and one died Sunday after a Tesla Model 3 ran a red light and was clipped by another car in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, according to the police department.
The crash occurred at about 2:10 p.m. at Taylor and O'Farrell streets when a Tesla traveling north on Taylor ran a red light, and a Mini Cooper clipped it, police said. The Tesla then spun out of control and hit a couple crossing O'Farrell.
"A Mini Cooper traveling eastbound had the green light," police Sgt. Frank Harrell said. "It made contact with the Tesla as it ran the red light, causing the vehicle to hit two pedestrians in the crosswalk."
Both victims were taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, and one died, police said. The victim who died was later identified as 39-year-old Benjamin Dean of Clovis, California.
The other victim was his wife, Kelly, and she was recovering at San Francisco General Hospital, police said. She was listed in non life-threatening condition Monday.
The Tesla driver, identified as 21-year-old Kelsey Mariah Cambridge of Vallejo, was arrested on suspicion of running a red light and vehicular manslaughter, according to police.
The other driver remained at the scene uninjured and was cooperating with investigators. Alcohol and/or drugs did not appear to be a factor in the collision, police said.
The Tesla's owner was not driving the car at the time of the crash but showed up at the scene after getting a notification from Tesla that the car was involved in a crash. He told NBC Bay Area he had rented the vehicle out to someone else.
Police said they have security camera footage from three different angles at the intersection, and they estimated the Tesla was traveling about 45 mph when it went through the intersection, causing the chain-reaction crash.
There also should be video footage from the Tesla, as the Model 3 has five cameras, the owner, Albert Kim, said.
"There is a USB stick in the car, which records the footage," Kim said. "Hopefully it captured that moment."
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Police have obtained the USB stick as part of their investigation.
