The victims in a fatal car accident are also the suspects believed to have stolen the car they were driving. The accident happened off Road 274 and Lakeview Drive in Bass Lake. The 2001 BMW they were driving was stolen over the weekend from a sales lot in Oakhurst. The Madera County Sheriff's Department says both the driver and passenger have extensive criminal backgrounds.
A mangled mess of a BMW is pulled from an embankment early Tuesday morning. The CHP says the driver was going extremely fast when he lost control and his several trees. Tammy Johnson heard the crash around 4:30am and thought it was bears. She didn't actually see the car for another two hours.
"It is so crazy. I'm still in shock thinking, you wake up and you see a car totaled right outside your kitchen window," said Johnson, who is vacationing at her family's cabin.
Inside the car were 20-year-old Dylan Beazley and 19-year-old Albert Hammong. The Oakhurst residents with criminal pasts are believed to have stolen the car from Sierra Auto Sales.
Dan Roberts says thieves broke in and stole almost every set of keys to the cars on the lot. They only took the BMW, breaking the chain gate to get out. He calls the chain of events following the theft unbelievable.
The Madera County Sheriff's Department will continue to investigate the car and keys theft as well as other unsolved burglaries the pair may be connected to.
"In a case like this it's absolutely tragic for them, for their family and really for the community," said Erica Stuart, spokesperson for the Madera County Sheriff's Department.
Hammond was the driver and Beazley was the passenger. A toxicology report will be done to find out if either was under the influence.
