Getting your
Trinity Audioplayer ready...A 22-year-old Pittsburg man suspected of racing a vehicle on an East Bay highway crashed head-on into a California Highway Patrol vehicle that was stationed to stop him, authorities said.
The officer suffered a minor injury and was released from a hospital after being treated and released, according to a statement from the CHP. They added that the suspected driver was arrested upon his release from a hospital. Contra Costa County jail records did not list him in custody Tuesday afternoon.
The CHP said he is suspected of driving the wrong way on a freeway/highway while evading police, resisiting arrest, participating in a race and driving without a valid driver’s license. The crash happened after the CHP said they “stationed” a patrol car on westbound Highway 4 to interrupt him as the vehicle sped east on the west side of the highway.
Two passengers in the vehicle also were detained and later hospitalized with what the CHP called minor injuries.
In their statement, the CHP said the officers’ “quick and courageous actions prevented what could have been a far more serious tragedy.”
It all began about 11:35 p.m. on June 26, when the CHP received reports of sideshow activity near Franklin Canyon Road and state Highway 4 close to Hercules.
The CHP said that as officers responded, a silver Infiniti involved in the sideshow fled the area and began going east on westbound Highway 4. A CHP patrol car responded and zig-zagged in front of the ongoing traffic to protect the motorists going the correct way.
As that was happening, the officers spotted the Infiniti with its lights turned off driving east on westbound shoulder of Highway 4 near the McEwen Road exit.
The CHP said the officers “positioned their patrol vehicle in the path of the wrong-way driver to shield the public from the oncoming vehicle. The Infiniti continued toward the patrol vehicle and crashed head-on into it.”
Officers chased down the driver after he tried to run from the crash, the CHP said.