Teenager Killed in Fiery Car Crash in San Jose

A teenager is dead after an early-morning solo-vehicle crash Tuesday in San Jose.
     
The driver of a 2001 Ford Explorer, an 18-year-old San Jose man, lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a light pole and possibly a tree, causing the vehicle to catch fire, San Jose police said.

The debris from the crash covered a city block.

The crash happened at about 3 a.m. on Almaden Expressway near O'Grady Drive.

A passenger, an 18-year-old San Jose man, was caught in the burning car and pronounced dead at the scene. The driver, who police found about a block from the crash, was taken to a hospital and expected to survive.

Police said both alcohol or speeding were factors in the crash.  Friends who came the crash scene Tuesday morning said the driver had been drinking.  One man said he refused to get in the car last night because the driver was drunk.

Almaden Expressway was closed for hours for the investigation and did not reopen until around noon.

Last Friday, a car filled with five high school students crashed in Novato after the group left campus in the middle of the school day.  One passenger died and another was seriously hurt.  The 16-year-old driver was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence. Beer was found inside the car in that crash.

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