Alameda Co. deputy tragically killed in crash on I-580 in Tracy
TRACY, Calif. (KGO) -- An escort and a salute were given to an Alameda County deputy and father of four whose life tragically ended Friday morning.
A high-speed collision between a charter bus carrying Tesla employees and a small car left veteran Alameda County Sheriff's Deputy Sroeuy Khin dead. It happened early Friday on I-580 near Tracy, an accident that created a traffic backup more than five miles long.
Khin, 50, was on his way home after a long overnight shift. It would have been his 51st birthday on Saturday.
"The vehicle was stopped or driving slowly in the number two lane. At the same time, the driver of a white 2016 Temsa touring bus was also driving eastbound 580, east of Grant Line. For reasons still under investigation, the front of the tour bus collided with the rear of the Volkswagen Beetle," CHP Capt. Christopher Sherry said.
The CHP estimates the private charter bus full of Tesla employees was traveling 65 miles per hour when it hit the Beetle, driven by Khin, a 10-year veteran of the sheriff's department.
Khin was pronounced dead at the scene.
The CHP says the bus driver was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and he and his 51 passengers all escaped major injury.
"It's too much too soon," said Alameda County Sheriff's Dept. Sheriff Greg Ahern.
Khin's death marks the second accidental death of an Alameda Co. sheriff's deputy in less than three months. In late February, 60-year-old Michael Foley was killed after he was accidentally struck by an inmate bus in the parking lot of the Santa Rita Jail.
"It's a tight family and it's difficult for all of us to deal with it, from line staff to command staff to myself. It's not fun seeing your employee draped with an American flag," Ahern said.
The van carrying Khin's body was given a police escort from the accident scene to the coroner's bureau in Downtown Oakland.
The deputy, who lived in the Central Valley, leaves behind a wife and four children.
A Tesla spokesperson released this statement:
"We are aware of an accident this morning involving an independently-operated shuttle carrying Tesla employees and another vehicle. All Tesla employees on the bus are safe and accounted for, however we are deeply saddened by reports that there was a fatality as a result of the accident. We will lend any support that we can to the authorities who are investigating the incident."
