LIVERMORE — The driver of a motorhome is suspected of hitting 25 vehicles during rush-hour traffic and leading the California Highway Patrol on a pursuit Monday before surrendering, the agency said.
Officers arrested the driver on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and misdemeanor evading, CHP Officer Robert Purl said. The CHP does not suspect the driver was under the influence but did say there may have been a mental health issue at play.
The first call to the CHP came at 6:04 p.m. and reported that a white motorhome had crashed into several vehicles on eastbound Interstate 580, west of the N. Flynn Road exit in Livermore, Purl said. Stop-and-go traffic had clogged the freeway at that time, he said.
An officer spotted the motorhome about four minutes after the initial call, going about 35 mph and passing cars on the right shoulder, Purl said. The motorhome exited at the N. Flynn Road exit, crashed into another vehicle on the exit ramp and didn’t stop, he said.
According to Purl, the officer next tried to pull over the motorhome driver by activating his lights and siren. Instead, Purl said the driver kept going.
The officer pursued the motorhome from the exit to Carroll Road and then to Altamont Pass Road. The motorhome reached speeds of 30 mph in what Purl described as “light traffic.”
The motorhome eventually became disabled on eastbound Altamont Pass Road, east of Carroll Road, setting up a standoff, Purl said. The driver was arrested 18 minutes later.
An undisclosed number of people received minor injuries in the collisions, Purl said.
Source: www.mercurynews.com