Police: Man arrested in deadly San Francisco crash

[January 03, 2013]  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- San Francisco authorities arrested a convicted felon and gang member on suspicion of causing a New Year's Day crash that killed two people and injured a third, officials said Wednesday.

David Morales, 19, of San Francisco, had just shot at three people from his car and was fleeing police when he slammed into a Toyota sedan, which spun out of control and struck a pedestrian Tuesday morning, police spokesman Gordon Shyy said.

The pedestrian, 26-year-old Francisco Gutierrez of San Francisco, was killed, as was the Toyota's 29-year-old female passenger, the San Francisco Chronicle reported (http://bit.ly/12ZtBLn).

The condition of the Toyota's driver was upgraded from critical to serious Wednesday, officials said.

Morales was booked into San Francisco County jail on two counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, one count of evading a peace officer, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm with a gang enhancement charge, Shyy said.

Shyy didn't know if Morales had an attorney.

"By choosing to flee and ultimately killing two people, we have reason to believe there's enough for a murder charge," Shyy told the Chronicle.

The incident began around 7:45 a.m. Tuesday when Morales drove to a housing development in the city's Mission District and fired at three people who were walking, officials said. None of the pedestrians were struck.

When police tried to pull him over, Morales sped off and then crashed into the Toyota, officials said.

[Associated Press]

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