A young man was arrested by the California Highway Patrol Saturday night after hitting another car, injuring a CHP officer, and trying to flee the scene, a CHP officer said.
The highway patrol got a call at 9:09 p.m. about a collision between a 2009 four-door Nissan Maxima and a gold 1999 Saturn on eastbound state Route 237 just east of the Great America Parkway in Sunnyvale near the San Jose border, CHP Officer Ralph Caggiano said.
The Saturn had apparently been driving at high rates of speed in the wrong direction on the highway just before the crash, Caggiano said.
One person in the Nissan was injured in the crash, Caggiano said. The severity of that person’s injuries was unknown, as was the total
number of people in the Nissan, he said.
A CHP officer was also somehow struck during the collision, Caggiano said, possibly because he was on the road directing traffic in connection with a crash just east of this crash site that involved a tanker carrying liquid nitrogen.
The CHP officer suffered only minor injuries to one leg and is expected to recover from his injuries, Caggiano said.
The driver of the Saturn, a 22-year-old man, fled the scene of the crash by leaping over an embankment into a shallow river, Caggiano said.
San Jose police officers that were at the scene of the crash and one canine unit from their department assisted CHP officers in tracking down the man, Caggiano said.
The suspect was
found and arrested by the CHP around 10 p.m. in the area of the Santa Clara Golf and Tennis Club just south of the highway, he said.
The CHP intends to recommend the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office file felony charges of hit and run, driving under the influence, and assault with a deadly weapon against the man for Saturday’s collision, Caggiano said.
The suspect’s car was taken for a 30-day impound because the driver was operating it on a suspended license, Caggiano
said.
The San Jose CHP office is investigating this case, he said.
Copyright © 2010 by Bay City News, Inc. “… republication, re-transmission or reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
