Lexus in CHP officer’s crash had been flagged for sudden acceleration

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The high-speed crash of a Lexus ES 350 that killed off-duty California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor and his family Aug. 28 may have been caused by the vehicle’s accelerator pedal becoming trapped by a rubber floor mat, but a range of other possible electronic or mechanical problems could not be ruled out, investigators for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department have found.

Employees at Bob Baker Lexus in El Cajon, which lent the ES 350 to Saylor when he brought in his own Lexus for servicing, had been warned about the problem three days before the crash by a customer who experienced sudden acceleration in the same car, the investigation report said.

[Updated at 9:47 p.m.: Read the full article.]

-- Ralph Vartabedian and Ken Bensinger