Dog Walker And Five Dogs Killed In Crash Following Los Angeles Police Chase

A police chase on Tuesday took the lives of a dog walker and five dogs in a multi-car crash.

The chase began around 11:30 a.m. in Long Beach, California when police attempted to pull a van over. Instead, the driver sped off in the direction of a residential area. As it passed through the area, witnesses say it was traveling at minimum speeds of 60mph and speeding through stop signs.

Meanwhile, Jessie Bingaman was driving with six dogs that she cared for as part of her dog walking business. She was driving through the area as well, coming to a stop at an intersection stop sign. As Bingaman started heading through an intersection, the van ran a stop sign and struck Bingaman’s vehicle.

“It was going so fast it was just a white streak,” Juanita Gaglio told NBC Los Angeles.

Bingaman’s vehicle was struck on the driver side, pinning her in. It ended up taking rescue workers nearly 20 minutes to get her out of the vehicle. While an ambulance arrived to transport Bingaman to a nearby hospital, she died en-route.

Five of the dogs Bingaman were, unfortunately, not spared either. Four were killed on the scene while the fifth died while being transported to the closest veterinarian.

The van driver was identified as 43-year-old Javier Oliverez, who had an outstanding warrant in Los Angeles County for robbery. He has also been charged evading a police officer, felony DUI, and vehicular manslaughter in the wake of the crash. He is currently being held at Long Beach City Jail without bail.