Palo Alto Crash Leaves Highway 101 Littered With Wrecked Vehicles; Driver Arrested On DUI Charges
PALO ALTO (CBS SF) -- An early Thursday morning crash left Highway 101 littered with smashed vehicles and piles of gravel, shutting down all lanes of the busy freeway in Palo Alto for several hours and leaving a Stanford student in custody for suspected drunk diving, authorities said.
The California Highway Patrol said the crash took place at around 1:45 a.m. near the San Antonio road exit in Palo Alto.
According to investigators, 20-year-old Stanford student Diego Andres Ruiz-Marin was suspected to be under the influence when he lost control, careened into the center divide and then triggered a multi-vehicle crash including a truck carrying a load of gravel.
Impact heavily damaged the vehicles and left piles of gravel across the freeway lanes.
The truck driver was taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries. Ruiz-Marin was arrested on DUI charges.
The CHP opened the northbound lanes open around 5:20 a.m. It will take crews a little longer to clean up the southbound lanes.