PHOENIX — One person died and another suffered life-threatening injuries after a car crashed into an electrical pole near 19th Avenue and Indian School Road.
Phoenix police said officers responded to reports of a serious collision at about 10 a.m. and found a vehicle with electrical cables strewn around it.
Witnesses pulled the driver from the car before first responders arrived, but live power lines prevented anyone from getting to the passenger, officials said.
Due to the risk of electrocution from the cables, officers had to wait for the power to be shut off before helping the passenger.
The people inside the vehicle were eventually pulled out and both men were taken to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries. The driver, later identified as 25-year-old Nathan Soto, died from his injuries at the hospital.
An initial investigation revealed the vehicle was going at a high rate of speed before the driver lost control and crashed into the pole. The investigation remains active.
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How big is Maricopa County?
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.
The county was named after the Maricopa, or Piipaash, Native American Tribe.