12-year-old girl killed, her mother and brother critically injured, transported to hospital, after their minivan is struck, by a 26-year-old man driving an SUV, during a police pursuit on Trask Ave. and Hoover Streets in Westminster.

A 12-year-old girl, later identified as Vivian Uyen Nguyen, was killed in a crash at the end of a pursuit Thursday night that began after the driver of a sport utility vehicle rammed a police vehicle when officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop in Orange County.

The girl and two family members were in a van that was involved in the crash with the pursuit driver's Chevrolet Suburban in Westminster. The 26-year-old pursuit driver was arrested on suspicion of murder, felony evasion and assault with a deadly weapon -- using his SUV to ram to patrol vehicle.

The mother and son in the minivan are in critical, but stable, condition.

What officers described as a "tragic chain of events" began after police attempted to stop a driver, later identified as Aleksandar Apostoloic, 26, they established as a man wanted for weapons violations and narcotics trafficking.

"An officer was on patrol near Sigler Park when he spotted a possible wanted person they were looking for," said a police Sgt. "When the officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop, the suspect rammed his suburban into the officers patrol unit starting the pursuit."

The chase led officers through residential areas before it crashed with an van, carrying the family of three, on Trask Avenue and Hoover Street, officers said. A resident was arriving home when he noticed the pursuit vehicle and patrol cars.

"He was going so fast he could not stop," said a witness. "We watched it zoom by us, and he wasn't going to stop. He was going too fast to stop."

The driver was traveling at about 80 mph when he passed his house then clipped the minivan, Ramirez said. He and other witnesses ran to the crash site.

"There was nothing we could do," the witness said. "It was bad."

The driver ran from his overturned vehicle and fled into a nearby residence, possibly through an unlocked door or open window.

During their investigation, a 911 call was made of a suspicious person at a residential area of Brooklawn Circuit and Chestnut street, just three blocks from the crash site, police said. Officers responded to the location and located the suspect in the backyard of a residence behind some bushes.

He was hospitalized with minor injuries, police said. He was identified as a "wanted, dangerous felon."

Firefighters quickly located a mother and her two children in the van and transported the patients to UCI Medical Center in serious conditions, officials said. One of the patients, a 12-year-old girl, died shortly after, police said.

"It's a absolutely tragic chain of events," said police.

A Westminster Police officer was hospitalized with minor injuries.