One person was killed and several others were injured in a chain reaction crash in Encinitas Thursday night, sheriff's department officials confirmed.
The fatal collision happened around 7 p.m. in the 1300 block of Leucadia Boulevard, near Garden View Road.
Deputies say a 23-year-old man, now identified by the county medical examiner’s office as Carlsbad resident Joao Rocadas, was driving his Chrysler Sebring eastbound on Leucadia Boulevard.
For unknown reasons, Rocadas lost control of his vehicle, jumped the center median and collided head-on into a Chevrolet pickup truck driver by a 43-year-old woman.
The impact from the crash caused a chain reaction, leading the Chevrolet to collide with a Ford F250 in another lane. The Ford F250 was occupied by a father and his 12 and 9-year-old sons.
Emergency crews were called to the scene for multiple patients, two of whom were temporarily trapped inside vehicles. Crews from Mercy Air were also requested.
Officials confirmed that Rocadas was killed in the crash. His death was pronounced at the scene.
The driver of the Chevrolet truck was taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries, while the father and sons in the Ford F250 were treated at the scene for minor injuries and released.
The crash is under investigation. Deputies say they are looking to determine whether speed was a factor in the collision.
A man who witnessed the crash told NBC 7 he knew Rocadas. The man said Rocadas was from Portugal and was new to the United States. He had moved here to go to school.
The witness told NBC 7 they were in a golf academy together and the victim was heading home for the day, driving east on Leucadia Boulevard. The witness saw the victim's car hit the center curb, jump into oncoming traffic and crash into a pickup truck head-on.
