College Students Injured In Vallejo Off-Ramp Crash
VALLEJO (BCN) - Four current Pacific Union College students and one graduate of the college in Napa County were injured early Friday morning when their car ran off an off-ramp from westbound state Highway 37 in Vallejo, the California Highway Patrol said.
The CHP said the driver of the car fell asleep around 4:10 a.m. near the Wilson Avenue off-ramp.
Julie Lee, a spokeswoman for the Angwin-based Seventh-day Adventist liberal arts college, confirmed four of the injured are current students and one is a graduate.
Two 22-year-old women in the backseat who were not wearing seatbelts, Tselal Seeye, of Ethiopia, and graduate Michelle Kim, of Yucaipa in San Bernardino County, suffered moderate to major injuries when they were ejected through the rear window as the 2009 Toyota Corolla overturned several times, the CHP said.
The right rear tire of the vehicle landed on Seeye, CHP Sgt. Phil Grant said. The women were taken to the John Muir Medical Center. Their conditions were not immediately available.
The driver of the car, Bruce J. Paki, 22, of Washington D.C., suffered minor injuries.
Passengers Phaneal Haimanot, 21, of Lakewood, Wash., suffered moderate injuries and Kristin Bowen, 21, of Yucaipa, suffered minor injuries, the CHP said. All three were taken to Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center.
The Toyota was traveling west on state Highway 37 at an unknown rate of speed around 4:10 a.m. and exited onto the off-ramp when Paki fell asleep, the CHP said.
The car struck a dirt embankment and overturned several times. The accident closed the Wilson Avenue off-ramp for 45 minutes, the CHP said.
Grant said speed is considered a factor in the crash and alcohol is being investigated as another factor.
Lee said students at the four-year college took final exams Thursday and classes are out for winter break until Jan. 3.
