Driver dies in hospital after high-speed chase ends in Rancho Murieta crash
RANCHO MURIETA — The driver of a car that a California Highway Patrol officer was pursuing died in the hospital following a Monday night crash that left four others injured in Sacramento County.
The crash ended the chase at an intersection in the Rancho Murieta area of Sacramento County, officials said Monday night.
Witnesses described the chaotic scene with helicopters overhead and a fiery ending to the pursuit. Ryan Anderson, who lives nearby, was one of many who came to the intersection to see what was happening.
"I thought I heard what sounded like gunshots. Obviously, that's not what it was, but there was probably a couple of hundred people out here watching," Anderson said.
The California Highway Patrol said, just before 8 p.m., an officer tried to pull over a red Hyundai Elantra for speeding just east of Rancho Murieta in Amador County, but the Hyundai didn't stop. The driver was traveling north on Highway 49 before transitioning onto Jackson Road, or Highway 16, and heading toward Rancho Murieta in Sacramento County.
The crash occurred at the intersection of Jackson Road and Murieta Drive and caused the Hyundai to catch fire. The man driving the Hyundai died and a female passenger is still hospitalized with critical injuries. Three people in the other vehicle suffered minor injuries.
The CHP said Tuesday that the Hyundai was determined to be stolen.
Witnesses say the area is usually very quiet, with a lot of golf carts and bikes regularly crossing the 16 freeway.
"That's immediately what I was thinking about when I heard there was a crash, there's usually so many golf carts and walkers around here," Anderson said. "It's definitely popular for golf carts excreta to cross the street here."
They say for that reason, this scene could have been much more deadly. The CHP says the officer pursuing the car can decide to terminate the chase, or if a manager in dispatch feels it's getting to dangerous, they can also call off the chase.
Photos of the scene released by the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District show vehicle damage resembling a broadside collision, or T-bone crash.
The Hyundai sustained heavy front-end damage and subsequently caught fire, officials said, while the other vehicle sustained heavy damage to the driver's side of the vehicle.