NewsWest Valley NewsGlendale News

Actions

Man arrested after deadly hit-and-run crash near 51st and Glendale avenues Saturday

20-year-old Dieudonne Ushindi was arrested at his home after he left the scene of the crash
Glendale Police
Posted at 3:30 PM, Mar 11, 2024
and last updated 2024-03-12 01:20:41-04

GLENDALE, AZ — Two people are dead and a 20-year-old man has been arrested after a deadly crash in Glendale Saturday.

The crash happened near 51st and Glendale avenues just before 7:30 p.m., involving six cars.

According to police, Dieudonne Ushindi was involved in a crash near 48th and Glendale avenues and left the scene. He then continued west at a high rate of speed and rear-ended another stopped vehicle which caused a chain reaction crash with three other vehicles near 51st and Glendale avenues.

Officials say 18-year-old Tyler Hugon and 18-year-old Tess Collins both died from their injuries. The driver of another car was taken to a hospital but has been released.

ABC15 spoke with Emilio Sandoval Ramirez, who says he ran up to multiple mangled cars, in the middle of the intersection on Saturday, across from his workplace.

"When I heard that sound, when it first crash... they went, 'Boom.' Not even tire marks, nothing. Just car hit, and that's when I ran in there," said Ramirez.

"Oh my god. Should we get people out of there?" said Ramirez. He says tried helping two people in the crash, but it was too late.

Ramirez told ABC15 that detectives stopped by his workplace on Monday to look at what he captured on his cell phone. He says he is thankful that he could provide police with a copy of the video to help in their investigation.

Glendale police told ABC15 on Monday they were able to track down Ushindi by looking up his vehicle registration and finding an address.

"He went to the house, looks like he did take a shower, put on the same clothes. So, he was identified with those same clothing and it was about an hour and a half timeframe in between," said Sgt. Randy Stewart.

Ushindi faces endangerment charges as well as leaving the scene of a crash involving death.

It is unknown if impairment was a factor.