Rescue crews had to pry open the roof of the white Chevy sedan to remove the 15-year-old driver. He suffered the most serious injuries when the car skidded off the street and smashed into a tree which has since been cut down by Alameda city crews. Neighbors who heard the crash say the most disturbing part was after the impact. "They crashed and it was quiet for about a minute or two, and then all of a sudden, we heard, 'Oh my god, are you OK Are you OK?" screaming the names," Jessica Burns recalled.
Throughout the day, friends of the critically-injured driver have taken to Twitter to spread news of the crash and offer their best wishes. The 15-year-old remains at Highland Hospital. That's also where other friends and their parents spent some of the day, hoping for details on his condition. A total of six teenagers were in the car including two 15-year-old young men, three 15-year-old young women, and a 13-year-old girl.
Parents and neighbors say most of them are students at Alameda High School. Fred Chacon is a teacher there. He doesn't know the teens, but he says schools are constantly reminding students about responsible driving. "Well, 15-year-olds aren't supposed to be riding with somebody in the car who's not an adult," he said.
Police say the teens took the car without parents permission and that there was alcohol in the vehicle. "I don't know enough about if there was anything in the passenger compartment, but we did find some alcohol in the car and I don't know where that was. The California State Department of Beverage Control was called in also to help investigate this," Alameda Police Lt. Rob Frankland told ABC7 News.
Beer was in the trunk of the car, but the father and owner of the car told police it was his and that the kids may not have even known it was there. Alameda police say they are keeping close tabs on the condition of the driver who at Highland Hospital, but that's mostly out of concern for his health. They say they are not in a rush to file charges.
At 6 p.m. Friday, the driver remained in critical condition and at least one of the other five teens had been released from the hospital. Two of the teens who were originally transported to Kaiser Hospital in Oakland had been transferred to Children's Hospital in Oakland.
