click to enlarge
UPDATE: Actually, they did.A spokesman for the California Highway Patrol refuted television reports that claim a patrol car was among the several vehicles to
strike a woman who wandered onto Highway 280 last night with deadly results. Officer Shawn Chase of the CHP flatly denied that officers were among the drivers who ran over the pedestrian at around 10 p.m. last night, resulting in several hours of highway closures. Instead, he says, CHP officers got the call of someone "who appeared drunk" wandering onto the highway, but weren't able to intervene until she was struck "at least three times."
The car that struck the woman initially -- and, likely fatally -- did not stop. The second and third -- a Chrystler and a Jeep -- did pull over, however, and the drivers were interviewed by CHP officers.
The San Francsico Medical Examiner's office told
SF Weekly this morning they have not yet identified the victim. Chase said it may be a challenge -- the body was "not intact" following the grisly incident. Yes, this means the woman was reduced into pieces, leaving the Medical Examiner to hopefully deterine her identity via fingerprints or other methods.
"After being struck three times by cars going 50 or 60 miles per hour and weighing 5,000 or 6,000 pounds -- well you see the damage they're going to do," said Chase.
The CHP is still searching for the driver of the first vehicle. The pedestrian's body was too poorly mangled to likely recover paint or other trace evidence, so Chase says he's hoping a witness may point authorities toward a vehicle that surely sustained significant damage.
