2 Teens Stab Cabbie, Then Die in Crash
April 8, 2008, 7:25 PM PDT

Two teenage girls died Tuesday when the taxi cab they were riding in
crashed after one teen slashed the driver's face, police said.

The 50-year-old driver was taken to a local hospital and released after
receiving treatment for minor injuries including cuts to his neck and face,
Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Officer April Harding said.

His name was not immediately released.

Two 17-year-old girls flagged down the cab at about 12:30 a.m. in the
eastern Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights and asked to be taken to
the nearby Ramona Gardens housing project, police said.

The girls were Alexous Ann Sandoval and Daisy Orozco, both Los Angeles
residents, Craig Harvey of the coroner's office said.

When they pulled up, one girl said her boyfriend would come down to pay
their fare. Instead, he approached the cab with a gun, Harding said.

The cab driver apparently sped away with the women still in the back seat.

"The cab driver got scared," Harding said. "One of the females pulled out a
box cutter and began cutting the taxi cab driver and that's what caused him
to crash."

It appeared the cab driver believed he was being followed by a gunman,
police said. Two men were detained and being questioned about the incident,
Harding said.

Both girls were thrown from the cab and died.

"It is just something bizarre and it is something tragic that happens,"
Harding said