1 Killed, 1 Hurt In Crash During Oakland CHP Chase
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- A young driver died after he fled California Highway Patrol officers who had tried to stop him for a traffic violation and crashed his car near the Port of Oakland early Friday, a CHP spokesman said.
Officer Sam Morgan said two patrol officers noticed a man who was driving a Honda Civic run a stop sign and multiple red lights on Seventh Street shortly before 2 a.m. Friday.
The officers turned on their lights to pull the driver over but he sped away instead, reaching freeway speeds in a chase that lasted only about 15 seconds before he hit a palm tree in the median of Seventh Street just east of Maritime Street, Morgan said.
The driver died at the scene while a male passenger was injured and hospitalized but is expected to survive, according to Morgan. Both men appeared to be in their late teens or early 20s, he said. Authorities weren't yet releasing their names.
The Honda Civic was registered to a San Jose resident, Morgan said.
Investigators are trying to determine why the driver fled the CHP officers, Morgan said. He said the driver did not appear to be intoxicated, nothing illegal was recovered from the car and it hadn't been reported stolen.
"We're looking into whether there was a warrant for the driver, if there was a medical emergency or if it was just an adrenaline rush," Morgan said.
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