DATE: Sunday, September 28, 1997            TAG: 9709280067

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   31 lines

1 MAN KILLED, 2 PEOPLE HURT WHEN PICKUP CRASHES

One person was killed and two others were injured early Saturday morning in the Truxtun neighborhood when a pickup truck they apparently had stolen ran a stop sign, crashed into a yard and burst into flames, police said.

The truck, apparently equipped to carry propane gas tanks, had been reported stolen by A&B Propane company, police said.

Police said one of the occupants, an 18- or 19-year-old, died at the scene. The person's identity was not released, pending notification of relatives.

The names of the other two occupants, an 18-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man, also were withheld. They were in stable condition at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital late Saturday, said police spokeswoman Amber Whittaker.

The accident occurred shortly after 2 a.m., when the driver of the truck failed to stop for a stop sign at Knox and Downes streets, police reported. The truck landed in the yard at 3400 Astor Ave.

Police officers patrolling the area had spotted the truck on Frederick Boulevard as it entered the Truxtun neighborhood, but were not attempting to stop it when it crashed, Whittaker said.

Officers reportedly pulled the occupants from the burning truck. There were several propane gas tanks in its bed, she said.

``They really risked their lives to get them out,'' Whittaker said.

The case remains under investigation. KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC INJURIES FATALITIES

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