4 Dead After Suspected Drunk Driver Rolls Vehicle During High-Speed Pursuit
FRENCH CAMP (CBS13) — A high-speed pursuit killed four people on a rural road when a suspected drunken driver crashed.
Police say they were pursuing a suspected drunken driver in a Chevrolet Blazer at around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday when the car rolled over on McKinley Avenue just north of Wyman Road in French Camp.
The driver was identified Steven Thomas MacFadden, 19, a teenager from the Bay Area. Police say he drove two miles before ending up in the ditch.
One of the victims was identified as a 22-year-old woman. Two other women in the car have not yet been identified.
"This could have been avoided," San Joaquin County Sheriff's spokesman Les Garcia. "I mean this was a situation where the driver could have just yielded to the emergency lights however the decision was to flee or attempt to flee."
He says the driver reached speeds of up to 100 mph. What caused him to loose control is under investigation.
"We just don't understand and that's what we're trying to do is understand why this individual chose to put those three occupants in danger as well as himself," Garcia said.
Toxicology results to determine if the driver was impaired could take up to six weeks.