LOS ANGELES (CNS) – One of three suspects in an armed robbery was killed today when the SUV he was driving while being chased by police collided with another vehicle and overturned on the Golden State (5) Freeway in the Lincoln Heights section of Los Angeles, leaving his two passengers injured, authorities said.

The California Highway Patrol was notified of the crash on the northbound side of the freeway at Pasadena Avenue just after 2 a.m., said CHP Officer Francisco Villalobos.

The fatally injured man, who was in his 20s, was one of three suspects in the armed robbery of a 7-Eleven convenience store in the 2000 block of East Fourth Street, said Officer Bruce Borihanh of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations office. His name was withheld, pending notification of relatives.

The surviving men, also in their 20s, were hospitalized in stable condition, and will be booked on suspicion of robbery, Borihanh said.

The chase began when officers spotted the SUV being driven recklessly and then learned it matched the description of a vehicle used by suspects fleeing an armed robbery at the 7-Eleven store, said Officer Christopher No of the LAPD’s Media Relations Section.

Broadcast footage from the scene showed bills and rolled coins on the pavement outside the crashed SUV, which had collided with a van, according to a news photographer at the crash site.

All northbound lanes of the freeway remained closed until shortly before 8 a.m., snarling traffic in the area. Traffic was diverted onto the Pasadena (110) Freeway, Villalobos said.

Some vehicles were allowed to pass the crash scene single-file by using a transition road to the 110, then jumping a raised gore point to get back onto the northbound 5 Freeway. But a huge traffic backup developed nonetheless as thousands of commuters gave up on the idea of making it to work on time.

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