Another car may have been involved in crash, investigator says
Author: By Alan Duke and Holly Yan CNN
SANTA CLARITA, California (CNN) -
Drag racing may have been involved in the fiery crash
that killed "Fast & Furious" actor Paul Walker on Saturday, an
investigator said Monday.
Investigators got a phone call tip Sunday suggesting that
another car was at the scene when the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, driven by
Walker's racing team partner, slammed into a light pole and burst into
flames, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Richard Cohen told CNN.
"Naturally, from an investigative standpoint, we need to find out if that is one of the issues," he said.
Even
if drag racing was not involved, investigators are looking at the
possibility that another car veered in front of the Porsche and caused
the crash, Cohen said.
Jim Torp, a car enthusiast who was at the
charity event that Walker attended before the wreck, said he doubted
drag racing was involved. Walker was smiling as he got into the Porsche
minutes earlier.
Torp thought he heard a blast in the distance before the car slammed into a light pole, he said.
"What
the first explosion was, I don't know if their tire blew up, because it
sounded like a tire blew on the car," Torp told CNN Monday.
Tire
skid marks on the asphalt near the crash site, which indicate a car was
doing doughnut spins, also are being looked at, Cohen said. It has not
been concluded that they are related to the Walker wreck, he said. The
street has a reputation for fast drivers, which spurred a crackdown by
deputies two years ago, he said.
Torp told CNN that he looked closely at the skid marks and concluded they were left by a car with smaller tires.
Walker
and Roger Rodas, who was believed to be driving, died in the wreck on
Hercules Street, a wide business park road, in the community of Valencia
inside the city of Santa Clarita, about 30 miles north of Hollywood,
according to Walker's publicist and CNN affiliate KCAL.
The Los
Angeles County coroner has not officially identified the remains of two
people pulled from the mangled and burnt car. Dental records will be
used during an autopsy Monday to confirm who was behind the wheel and
who was in the passenger seat, according to Investigator Dana Bee.
Stunned fans, a grieving father
Stunned by Walker's untimely death, fans, friends and family remembered what he meant to them and what he did for them.
His
father remembered him as a loving son who wanted to take a hiatus from
acting. A fellow actor said he had just celebrated Walker's 40th
birthday. And a U.S. military veteran will forever be grateful for a
touching act of generosity.
Day and night Sunday, legions of fans gathered near the charred roadside where Walker died.
Tyrese Gibson, Walker's co-star in several "Fast & Furious" movies, broke down as he laid a yellow flower at the site.
"My
heart is hurting so bad no one can make me believe this is real," the
singer and actor posted on Instagram. He also shared the duo's last text
exchange.
Paul Walker Sr. choked back tears as he remembered his son.
"His heart was so big," he told CNN affiliate KCAL. "I was proud of him every day of his life."
The
actor told his father that he wanted to take a hiatus from acting to
spend more time with his 15-year-old daughter, Meadow, the elder Walker
said. "And then boom, he got another movie. He would say, 'I don't know
what to do.'"
He said the actor's siblings are having an especially hard time grappling with the death.
"I'm
just ... glad that every time I saw him, I told him I loved him," the
father said. "And he would say the same thing to me."
Remarkable generosity
Tales
of Walker's philanthropy are not new. CNN confirmed one story from a
decade ago when Walker noticed a young U.S. soldier shopping with his
fiancee for a wedding ring in a Santa Barbara jewelry store.
"The
groom was just back from duty in Iraq, and he was going to be deployed
again soon and wanted to buy a wedding ring, but he said he just could
not afford it," saleswoman Irene King told CNN. "I don't think the
soldier realized how expensive those rings are, about $10,000."
