A known white supremacist gang member in Orange County has been charged with murder in connection with a high-speed police pursuit crash that killed a Vietnamese tourist and badly injured two others, officials announced on Thursday.
On December 2, about 7:30 p.m., officers from the Fountain Valley Police Department responded to reports of arson at a property on the 18000 block of Arches Court.
The defendant, 43-year-old Huntington Beach resident Timothy Cole, allegedly used an accelerant to set fire to a bush outside the home of his sister’s fiancé, according to an Orange County District Attorney’s Office press release.
“The fire engulfed the bush in flames and spread to the structure of the home,” the police department said.
Prosecutors claimed Cole’s motive for starting the fire was vengeance for custody of his children after his sister contacted child protective services.
Residents of the home, with the assistance of a neighbor, were able to extinguish the blaze that had spread to the porch.
The 43-year-old was seen two hours later getting into his white Dodge Ram pickup truck, which was parked near the property. When police attempted a traffic stop, Cole refused to yield, leading officers on a 1.5-mile pursuit.
Cole drove nearly 90 mph through a red light at Ellis Avenue and Magnolia Street, colliding with a BMW X3, causing his vehicle to turn over.
“Twenty-five-year-old Hong Ngoc Nguyen, who was visiting from Vietnam, was riding in the backseat and was killed,” according to the statement. “The driver of the BMW suffered fractures to her spine and pelvis and her passenger suffered a broken arm.”
Cole was taken into custody without incident and transferred to a trauma facility in Long Beach.
The 43-year-old, who has six prior strikes, is accused of:
- Felony murder.
- A felony count of avoiding a peace officer, resulting in death
- Two felony counts of fleeing a peace officer, causing serious injury.
- Felony arson.
- Felony enhancement for arson with an accelerant.
“No one could have predicted that a series of events set in motion by a stranger would turn Miss Nguyen’s American vacation into an American nightmare,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer stated. “Words do not exist to express the utter heartbreak over the death of a young woman who found herself in the path of someone with complete disregard for human life.”
If convicted as charged, Cole could face a state prison sentence ranging from 70 years to life. He is set to appear in an Orange County courthouse on December 20.
