A 37-year-old Fremont man was arrested yesterday for driving the wrong way down the Dumbarton Bridge with his headlights off and causing a head-on collision that killed two adults and critically injured two children out of Redwood City late Saturday night.
The California Highway Patrol said Luis Armando Hidalgo was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving, gross vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run for allegedly causing the nasty accident that occurred near the Dumbarton Bridge toll plaza just before midnight Saturday.
The CHP said Hidalgo, driving a 1999 Chrysler 300M, was traveling east on westbound state Route 84 and struck a 2002 Toyota Tacoma driven by Oakland resident Maria DelCarmen before hitting a Plymouth Voyager minivan carrying the Redwood City family.
A CHP spokesman said DelCarmen, 26, was traveling west and didn't see Hidalgo approaching because his headlights were off. At the last minute, she saw his car coming at her and swerved to avoid it. Hidalgo sideswiped her vehicle anyway, and allegedly continued down the wrong way on the bridge.
DelCarmen, having suffered minor abdominal injuries, stopped at the collision scene.The CHP said Hidalgo then collided head on with the Voyager. Both vehicles erupted in flames. CHP officers and other motorists pulled the injured parties from their vehicles and initiated medical aid, but for some it was too late.
The male driver, 35, was pronounced dead at the scene. A 38-year-old woman, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was taken to Eden Medical Center where she died soon after her arrival.
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The Alameda County Coroner said Sunday evening that it was not ready to release the names of the deceased because next of kin had not been notified. A spokeswoman said the deceased were not a married couple.
Meanwhile, two boys in the 1987 Voyager are suffering from major head injuries and were in critical condition Sunday. One boy, age 16, is being treated at Eden Medical Center in Walnut Creek. The other boy, who is believed to be between 10 and 12 years old, is at Stanford Medical Center.
Fire companies from Fremont, Menlo Park and Newark, along with four ambulances responded to the accident, and all westbound lanes were closed for more than an hour while the accident was cleared.
The CHP says Hidalgo suffered major injuries consisting of a broken femur and a crushed ankle in the collision. Officers arrested him at the Stanford Hospital at around 2:30 a.m. Sunday.
Anyone with information surrounding the accident is urged to contact the CHP Hayward Office at (510) 489-1500. <
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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