The incident began just after 4 p.m. when a sheriff's deputy spotted a man in a stolen vehicle near the intersection of Appian Way and San Pablo Road, said sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee.
The deputy was waiting for backup to arrive when the suspect drove on Hilltop Drive to eastbound Interstate Highway 80, according to Lee. Deputies attempted to stop the suspect, who would not yield and led the deputies on a highway pursuit.
Lee said the suspect vehicle exited at Pinole Valley Road. In the 3500 block of Pinole Valley Road in front of Ellerhorst Middle School the suspect vehicle crashed into another vehicle.
According to Lee, a 51-year-old Pinole resident who was in the vehicle that was struck died at the scene and the suspect was trapped inside the vehicle he was driving.
The suspect, a 28-year-old Richmond man, had to be extricated and attempted to fight off officers who were at the scene. Lee said the man was arrested before being transported to John Muir Medical Center for head injuries.
The man's identity is not being released while the case is being investigated by the sheriff's office, the Pinole Police Department and the California Highway Patrol. The District Attorney's Office will also be involved in the investigation, Lee said, because it was a fatal accident involving police action.
"What we want to find out is why was this person was in a stolen vehicle and why didn't he stop when he had ample opportunity," Lee said.
