COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. β Two people were killed and two others were injured after a speeding Tesla crashed into a tree and caught fire, igniting a nearby home in Petersburg early Saturday morning, according to authorities.
Colonial Heights Police said an officer clocked the Tesla at speeds over 70 mph in a 30 mph zone on the Boulevard around 1:20 a.m.
"The officer attempted to catch up with the vehicle, however, the vehicle failed to yield and continued into the City of Petersburg on South Adams Street," officials said.
Police said the driver lost control and hit a tree "less than a mile from where the officer witnessed the violation."
The Tesla burst into flames after the crash and the fire spread to a home in the 20 block of Marshall Street.
Petersburg firefighters responded and put out both the vehicle fire and the house fire.
The driver and one passenger in the Tesla were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Two other passengers were taken to an area hospital. There has been no word on the extent of their injuries.
No one inside the home was injured, police said.
A woman who lives in the home told CBS 6 that she awoke to a loud noise and assumed someone had hit the tree along the street.
"The pole right here, it's been hit several times from high-speed chases," the woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. "So I came out of my house and saw... the car was lodged in between the tree and my house. And then a few minutes later, the car burst into flames. And it was a Tesla, so it's extra dangerous."
The woman estimated that at least five crashes have happened since she moved in five years ago.
"High-speed chases end in front of my house," she said. "Every six months, we got a chase. Some of them end in a full-on crash. This pole has been knocked down three times. That tree's been driven over once."
The woman hopes Petersburg takes action to warn drivers.
"The city needs to do something to slow the traffic down because they come in from Colonial Heights all the time," she said. "They're unaware that this is a dead end and it's very dangerous. Several cars have been hit."
In fact, the woman said that nearly everyone on the block has had their vehicles hit.
"We've all been victim around here," she said. "I really think the city needs to do something to slow the traffic down way further up so that they don't come into this residential area."
Colonial Heights Police said the state police Crash Reconstruction Team is investigating the wreck at the department's request.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
π²: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.
