Update: Six Injured in Byron Highway Crash, Driver Arrested for DUI

At 11:02 pm Friday, East Contra Costa Fire Protection District firefighters responded to Byron Highway near Kellogg Creek Road for a two-vehicle crash that left six people injured.

According to the California Highway Patrol log, the driver of one of the vehicles was seen running from the scene before being taken into custody near a local gas station.

The incident blocked both lanes of traffic and at least two medical helicopters were requested after five people were confirmed to have been injured. One of the patients airlifted was a child.

By 12:51 pm, the roadway was re-opened. CHP was investigating if a stolen vehicle was involved in the crash.

8:36 am Update per East Contra Costa Fire

According to the East Contra Costa Fire protection District, six people were injured in the accident with three patients being taken to Children’s Hospital in Oakland and three patients to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. All injuries were major to moderate to minor.

10:43 am Update per CHP

On June 17 at 11pm, CHP dispatch received a call of a two vehicle collision, an Audi sedan vs. a Ford Explorer, on Byron Highway south of SR-4 in unincorporated East Contra Costa County. While our units were responding, CHP dispatch received another call that the male driver of the Audi had fled on foot. The first CHP unit that arrived on scene saw the unoccupied Audi sedan facing north in the northbound lanes with major front end damage and the Ford Explorer facing east adjacent to a tree just south of the Audi. Emergency personnel from the Contra Costa County Fire Department quickly arrived on scene and tended to the occupants of the Ford SUV.

Upon the arrival of the second CHP unit, they searched the area and quickly located and detained the male driver of the Audi at the Chevron station near the intersection of Byron Highway at SR-4. Through their investigation, they determined this individual was the driver of the Audi that had fled the accident scene.

Preliminary investigation indicates the driver of the Audi was traveling north on Byron Highway at a high rate of speed and attempted to pass the Ford Explorer by using the southbound lane but had to swerve back into the northbound lane to avoid colliding with oncoming traffic. The driver’s unsafe turning movement caused his Audi to collide into the rear of the Ford Explorer, which caused the Ford to collide into a tree. The Audi sustained disabling damage, stopped in the northbound lane after the collision, and then the driver of the Audi fled the scene on foot.

Fire personnel extricated the five occupants from the Ford Explorer, three of which were children. Two children sustained major injuries which included fractured bones and were transported by helicopter to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland. Another sustained minor abrasions and was transported to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland by ambulance. The driver and front right passenger, the parents of the children, sustained major injuries which also included broken bones, and were transported by ambulance to John Muir Walnut Creek.

After the Officers accident and DUI investigation of the suspected male driver of the Audi, he was determined to have been driving while under the influence and placed him under arrest. He was eventually booked into the county jail on felony charges of DUI and felony charges of hit and run.

Byron Highway was closed in both directions for approximately 1 hour 30 minutes but alternate routes kept traffic delays to a minimum.

CHP Log: