Suspect Arrested Following Deadly 8-Car Crash Near San Francisco Lake Merced
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A pedestrian in a crosswalk was hit and killed in a multiple-vehicle crash near Lake Merced in San Francisco Thursday morning and police say they have arrested a suspect.
The crash happened at around 8 a.m. at Lake Merced Boulevard and Higuera Ave. on the western edge of San Francisco State University.
Eight cars were involved in the crash, with one of the vehicles colliding with a 26-year-old man. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead at 1:45 p.m.
"They had a white car here that was really badly messed up," said neighbor Erma Riley. "There was a red car that was horribly crushed up and then there was a truck in the middle of the street."
Four other people who were inside vehicles were injured in the crash and were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.
One of those injured, a San Francisco man named Jerry Lyons, 31, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter among other charges. Police said that Lyons had been driving a 2003 Ford Explorer which was reported stolen in San Jose.
Lyons had previously been arrested in Dec. 2020 for misdemeanor DUI and driving a stolen car and was sentenced to a 60-day jail term for violating his supervised release.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the DA's office said they had requested blood toxicology results so that they could bring a DUI case.
The DA's office received those results on Jan. 22 and said they began working with the CHP to pursue charges as they awaited Lyons' arrest.
Lake Merced Boulevard is a major thoroughfare which funnels traffic to and from Interstate 280 and Skyline Boulevard.
In March of 2019, a 14-year-old girl was killed in the same intersection and San Francisco supervisors have asked for traffic calming measures along that stretch of Lake Merced Boulevard.
Police urged anyone who witnessed the crash or has any information about the incident was urged to contact the department's 24-hour tip line at 415-575-4444 or text TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD.
© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. KPIX 5's Andria Borba contributed to this report