Multiple people injured in wrong-way driver crash in Brentwood on Highway 4

Bay City News
Sunday, July 16, 2017
Multiple people injured in wrong-way driver crash in Brentwood on Highway 4
At least eight people were injured in a head-on collision with a wrong-way driver on Highway 4 in Brentwood Saturday night, the California Highway Patrol said Saturday.

BRENTWOOD, Calif. -- At least eight people were injured in a head-on collision with a wrong-way driver on Highway 4 in Brentwood Saturday night, the California Highway Patrol said Saturday.

The crash happened shortly after 8 p.m. after an allegedly stolen gold Honda Accord got on westbound Highway 4 in the vicinity of Lone Tree Way going the wrong way, Correia said.

The car sped down Highway 4 going east in the westbound lanes, passing several vehicles, then smashed head-on into a 2015 Honda Odyssey van, Correia said. The crash happened near Sand Creek Road, he said.

There were seven people in the van, Correia said. The van's driver, a 30-year-old man from San Francisco, had moderate injuries.

A 34-year-old woman passenger sustained minor injuries and a 61-year-old woman passenger suffered major injuries and is in stable condition, Correia said. A 1-year-old girl received medical attention "just for precaution," Correia said.

A 2-year-old girl sustained minor injuries, the spokesman said. A 72-year-old woman sustained minor injuries, and a 10-year-old girl also had minor injuries. All of the passengers are San Francisco residents, Correia said.

All seven were taken to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, Correia said.

A 22-year-old Oakley man who was a passenger in the Honda was taken to Eden Medical Center with major injuries and is in stable condition, Correia said.

The man suspected of driving the Honda, 24-year-old Rafael Duarte of Oakley, was taken to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek for minor injuries, Correia said.

After he was released from the hospital, Duarte was arrested and booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on suspicion of felony DUI, possession and driving of a stolen vehicle, driving without vehicle insurance and driving the wrong way on the highway causing injury, Correia said.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact the CHP-Contra Costa in Martinez.