A 15-year-old boy fleeing the scene of a traffic stop in Sterling, Virginia, died in a fiery crash over the weekend, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said.
Investigators say the crash occurred at roughly 12:40 a.m. on Sunday when a sheriff's deputy on patrol saw Wilberto Pitre III traveling on E. Beech Road without headlights on. Police say when the deputy twice tried to stop the teen he sped away.
The deputy began chasing Pitre in his patrol car but lost sight of him until the officer came upon the wreck.
Police say Pitre crashed into a parked car and was pronounced dead at the scene. A 15-year-old girl in the car with Pitre was taken to a hospital with serious injuries but is expected to survive.
Walt Stiffler says he heard the crash and tried to use his garden hose to put out the flames when the car's engine compartment caught fire.
"They kept yelling at the young man in the car, 'Sir, sir, you have to get out. The car is on fire.' He never answered them back," Stiffler said.
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Pitre's father told News4's Darcy Spencer the boy was very charismatic and social and liked to help people.
His mother, Shannon Pitre Lopez, said he wanted to be a psychologist and liked to listen, hug and love people and make them feel heard.
"He was vibrant, and that is how I want him to be remembered.
She was unaware he'd taken the car and said he made a mistake he can't learn from. She hopes other children don't make the same mistake.
"At 15 he made a very hard mistake that he can't learn from, but I want us to," his mother said.
His sister Gabrielle, a senior at Loudoun Valley, said her brother meant the world to her.
"He always came to my room to talk about whatever was going on and asked me how I was doing," she said. "He actually cared. He wanted to make sure we were OK."
A Loudoun County schools spokesman said Pitre was a student at Loudoun Valley High School. The sophomore was also a band leader at the school.
"He was just a fun-loving kid. He loved music," said Rick Reaves, the band director at Loudoun Valley high School. "Any instrument he could find, he tried to learn to play it."
He played saxophone in the high school marching band.
Many students wore pink to school Monday in Pitre 's memory. Pitre had dyed his hair pink for breast cancer awareness.
The minimum age to get Virginia driver's license is 16 years and three months. Teens have to be at least 15 years and six months to get a learner's permit, and an adult over the age of 21 must be in the car with them.
