HAYWARD — A woman who may have run across Interstate 880 in Hayward on Friday morning was killed when she was struck by a vehicle on an off-ramp, authorities said.
She was identified by the coroner’s office as Laura Winters, 49. Her city of residence was not immediately known.
The fatality was reported about about 3:57 a.m. Friday on the West A Street off-ramp from northbound Interstate 880.
California Highway Patrol Officer Zachary Hunter said that a short time before the crash, CHP units were dispatched for a report of two people running in the center divider of the freeway.
The officers saw a woman and were trying to get her to stop when she ran across the freeway — without being hit by any vehicles — then down the off-ramp, where officers detained her.
While pursuing the woman, officers saw a vehicle pulled over on the off-ramp. That driver told officers he had hit some kind of object; officers found Winters deceased nearby.
Authorities are trying to confirm if Winters was the same person seen running on the freeway earlier. Hunter said no vehicles associated with the people running on the freeway were found. No traffic lanes were shut down while the CHP investigated.
The CHP said drugs or alcohol do not appear to be factors in what happened.
The woman detained by the CHP was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.
Anyone with information about what happened is asked to call the Hayward CHP office at 510-489-1500.
Source: www.mercurynews.com