Three California teens killed in a fiery Tesla Cybertruck crash on the eve of Thanksgiving were identified Friday as longtime friends of a Bay Area college student. Officials made the announcement as police investigate whether speeding played a role in the stomach-churning crash.
College sophomores Jack Nelson, Soren Dixon and Krista Tsukahara, all 19, who met in high school, were on their way home from an event in Piedmont at 3 a.m. Wednesday when an SUV jumped the curb and crashed into a tree. It crashed and burst into flames. CBS San Francisco reported.
A fourth friend, Jordan Miller, 20, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin, survived the crash but suffered severe burns, her mother, Samantha Miller, told the station.
He had undergone surgery on Friday morning.
“It’s a devastating situation. And you know, we’re all thinking about the children who are missing,” Miller said.
Nelson and Dixon played on Piedmont High School’s lacrosse team, and Nelson also played junior varsity football and varsity soccer.
Dixon went on to play lacrosse at the University of Southern California, and Nelson attended the University of Colorado Boulder, where he joined the Sigma Nu fraternity.
It was not immediately clear which university Tsukahara attended.
On Friday, police were investigating speeding as a cause of the crash, but no other vehicles were involved, police said.
Piedmont Police Lt. Chris Monahan told the Chronicle that the futuristic-looking motorized vehicle jumped a curb, crashed into a cement wall and became wedged between the wall and a tree.
When police arrived on the scene, the SUV was engulfed in flames, twice the height of the vehicle.
California Highway Patrol officers will impound the Cybertruck and examine it for signs of mechanical failure.
Earlier this year, Tesla announced a recall for the 2024 Cybertruck.
Last month, the automaker owned by Elon Musk announced it was recalling more than 27,000 vehicles due to rearview camera image delays that can impair drivers’ visibility and increase the risk of crashes.
In April, the company voluntarily recalled thousands of Cybertrucks due to a defective accelerator pedal that could have caused a fatal accident, and in June it voluntarily recalled one vehicle due to a problem with its wiper and exterior trim. did.
