Man Accused of Street Racing in Fiery Crash on I-5 that Killed 3 Charged

A Whittier man accused of taking part in a street race that caused a multi-vehicle pileup on the Golden State (5) Freeway in Commerce, killing three people, was charged Tuesday with three counts of second- degree murder.

Dealio Lockhart, 35, was also charged with four counts of reckless driving on a highway causing injury. He is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in downtown Los Angeles. Prosecutors plan to ask that his bail be set at $3.2 million.

Lockhart is accused of driving a Dodge Challenger during a street race against someone behind the wheel of a Dodge Charger just after midnight Saturday morning. California Highway Patrol officials said the two Dodge muscle cars were being driven aggressively and were jockeying for position near the Citadel Outlet Mall.

When Lockhart approached a vehicle moving at normal freeway speed ahead of him, he tried to swerve around it but wound up losing control of his car and hitting a UPS 18-wheeler, which went airborne, over the center median, and sheared off the top of an oncoming Nissan with four people inside, according to the CHP.

The truck came to rest on top of a red Ford Explorer on the northbound side of the freeway, north of Washington Boulevard, and immediately burst into flames.

Debris from the collision also struck a Chevrolet Tahoe and Chevrolet Silverado, which were on the northbound side.

The UPS driver, Scott Treadway, 52, of Mira Loma, was killed in the crash. Two people in the Nissan also died -- Michelle Littlefield, 19, and Brian Lewandowski, 18, both of Valencia. Lewandowski was the son of a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department homicide detective.

The other two people in the Nissan were critically injured. Tony Miramontes, 21, of Van Nuys, was last reported to be in a coma at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, while Alfonso Morillo was hospitalized in critical condition. Miramontes was driving the Nissan.

Two other people -- a man and a woman -- were also injured in the pileup.

The driver of the Charger remains at large. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the driver's capture.

Lockhart faces up to life in prison if convicted, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Treadway was identified by his co-workers at Teamsters Local 396. He had been driving trucks for the UPS delivery service for 30 years.

Lewandowski and Littlefield were both students at College of the Canyons and worked at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia. They were returning from a trip to Disneyland with Miramontes and Morillo when the crash occurred.

Lewandowski is survived by his two brothers and his parents Jocelyn and Victor Lewandowski, a homicide detective with the sheriff's department.

"Brian was an incredible young man and every parent's dream for a son," according to a statement issued by his family.

"We are absolutely devastated by our loss. Our hearts go out to the other victims and their families and our prayers are for the survivors' recovery. We are very thankful for the love and support of family and friends throughout this time." Littlefield's mother, Gigi, told The Santa Clarita Valley Signal that her daughter was an only child and had just applied to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in hopes of studying business.

--City News Service, photo courtesy of the CHP