Investigators say a minivan fleeing an earlier collision blew a red light and triggered the three-vehicle wreck.
LOS ANGELES — Family members on Saturday identified 26-year-old Adrian Carrillo as the U.S. Marine killed with his girlfriend in a late-night collision in Panorama City, where police say a speeding minivan ran a red light and struck their Ford Mustang and a Honda Civic.
The crash at Terra Bella Street and Woodman Avenue around 9:30 p.m. Friday left three people dead and one man in critical condition, police and fire officials said. Carrillo and his girlfriend died at the scene in the Mustang. The minivan’s driver also died. A 35-year-old passenger in the van was extricated and rushed to a hospital. Police added that the Civic’s driver walked away without checking on the injured, turning a deadly crash into a hit-and-run investigation that now spans two scenes — the intersection and an earlier property-damage collision the minivan is believed to have fled.
LAPD Valley Traffic Division detectives said the gray Plymouth minivan was moving west on Terra Bella when it failed to stop for a red light, slamming into the southbound Mustang and Civic on Woodman. The impact pushed the Mustang into a light pole and spun the other vehicles across the intersection. Family and friends gathered Saturday beside a line of candles and flowers. “He was devoted to his parents and to his faith,” said Juan Bautista, Carrillo’s cousin, who said the Marine had returned home ahead of the holidays. Neighbors described hearing a boom that rattled windows and sent people running toward the corner just north of Van Nuys Boulevard.
Authorities have not formally released the victims’ names pending coroner confirmation. The Fire Department reported the two people in the Mustang were in their early 20s and the minivan’s driver was about 30. Relatives insisted Carrillo, who served on active duty, was 26. Investigators said speed was a significant factor and that they are analyzing event data recorders, mapping skid marks, and collecting footage from storefront and home cameras along Terra Bella and Woodman. Officers said three others assessed at the scene declined transport. Detectives also are interviewing witnesses from the earlier collision that the minivan allegedly left.
The intersection sits in a dense, mixed commercial and residential pocket of Panorama City where weekend traffic often stays busy late. Residents said drivers sometimes accelerate to make consecutive lights, a pattern police have targeted with past enforcement operations on Woodman Avenue. Friday’s wreck resembled several recent high-speed crashes in the Valley where a red-light violation led to multiple fatalities. City engineers said they will review signal timing and sight lines as part of the post-crash assessment, a standard step when deadly collisions involve suspected speed and red-light running.
Detectives are searching for the Civic’s driver who left before officers arrived, a move that could bring felony counts for failing to stop and render aid. The case will be presented to prosecutors after investigators finish taking statements, reconstruct the path of the minivan from the earlier crash, and receive the coroner’s findings on cause and manner of death. Police said an update is expected this week once video is reviewed and identities are confirmed. Any future charges — including vehicular manslaughter or hit-and-run — will depend on the evidence, officials said.
By Sunday afternoon, a memorial grew along the curb: flowers, battery-powered candles and handwritten notes. “I didn’t know them, but I felt compelled to come,” said Dominique Herrera, who lives nearby. Another neighbor described Carrillo as a frequent sight in a blue Mustang on evening drives. As tow trucks cleared the wreckage, workers replaced a bent signal pole and reopened lanes, but mourners continued to arrive, pausing in silence at the corner where three lives ended.
Detectives said the immediate priorities are identifying the Civic’s driver and confirming the minivan’s involvement in the earlier crash. The coroner is working to notify next of kin, and police plan to release additional details after lab downloads from the vehicles are complete later this week.
Author note: Last updated December 15, 2025.