Good Samaritans work to help victims after car slams into power pole in Phoenix

PHOENIX - A car crashed into a power pole on 19th Avenue on Monday in Phoenix, killing one victim and critically injuring another.

A homeowner says it happened right in the home's front yard and that crashes in the area aren't new.

"It's a high risk because the poles were down … we pulled out the person. We didn't care about that. We just try to save lives," Reyna Polanco, a witness, said.

Polanco was one of the good Samaritans who jumped into action when she saw a car crash into a wooden power pole near 19th Avenue and Indian School Road.

Police say live power lines fell on top of the car.

They were able to drag the driver out, but the second victim, a passenger, was still inside when flames broke out.

"We cannot pull the other one because there started to be flames from the electricity poles. So we started to back up ourselves," Polanco said.

Nursing assistant Vanessa Correa was driving by when she saw the scene.

"We opened the door and dragged him out and put him on the floor and one of the nurses from the other side came and provided CPR while I checked the pulse," she said.

Phoenix firefighters say they had to extricate the second passenger, but they needed SRP to first de-energize the lines. Witnesses say the entire process took about an hour.

In the end, the victims were taken to the hospital. One of them is in critical condition and the other, Nathan Soto, 25, passed away from his injuries.

The homeowner, right next to the power pole, says this isn't anything out of the ordinary for the area.

"We’ve had three drunk drivers crash into our rock wall," he said. "Which, thank God we have this rock wall, because otherwise they would have went through our house. Then this pole in particular has been hit three times in the last ten years," he said.

Even blocks away, neighbors immediately knew what had happened.

"I was just sitting on my computer working, heard a huge crash, and immediately the power went out," a resident said.

As for what caused the crash, police said, "Detectives responded to investigate the collision and learned the vehicle was driving at a high rate of speed just before the collision. Preliminary information suggests the vehicle lost control after going over the canal crossing, and crashed into the utility pole. The investigation remains active as investigators continue to process the evidence."