SANTA ANA, Calif. – A documented white supremacist gang member with six prior strikes has been charged with murder in connection with a high-speed police pursuit that left an innocent bystander dead, and two others seriously injured, according to the OCDA.
The pursuit began after the defendant set fire to the Fountain Valley home of his sister’s fiancé in apparent retaliation for losing custody of his children after his sister called child protective services.
Timothy Bradford Cole II, 43, of Huntington Beach, has been charged with one felony count of murder, one felony count of evading a peace officer causing death, two felony counts of evading a peace officer causing serious injury, one felony count of arson of an inhabited structure, and one felony enhancement of arson with use of an acceleration device.
He faces a maximum sentence of 70 years to life plus 48 years and eight months in state prison if convicted. Cole is scheduled to be arraigned on December 20, 2024, at the Stephen K. Tamura Justice Center in Westminster in Department W12.
On Monday, December 2, 2024, Cole is accused of using an accelerant to set a bush at the home of his sister’s fiancé on fire, causing the porch to be singed. An occupant of the home and a neighbor were able to put the fire out.
Two hours later, Fountain Valley police located Cole as he returned to his car parked near the site of the arson fire. Police attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but Cole drove off, initiating a short 1.4-mile police pursuit.
Cole is accused of driving nearly 90 miles an hour when he ran a red light at the intersection of Ellis Avenue and Magnolia Street just before 11 p.m., hitting a BMW X3 traveling southbound on Magnolia and causing Cole’s vehicle to roll over. Twenty-five year-old Hong Ngoc Nguyen, who was visiting from Vietnam, was riding in the backseat and was killed. The driver of the BMW suffered fractures to her spine and pelvis and her passenger suffered a broken arm.
“No one could have predicted that a series of events set in motion by a complete stranger would turn Miss Nguyen’s American vacation into an American nightmare,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “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 and we will do everything we can to get justice for Miss Nguyen and her loved ones.”
Deputy District Attorney Devin Campbell of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
