Home NEWS Police/Fire Driver Dies In Fiery DUI Crash On Highway 24 Sunday Morning; Concord...

Driver Dies In Fiery DUI Crash On Highway 24 Sunday Morning; Concord Man Arrested

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One person was killed and another injured in a fiery crash on eastbound SR24 just west of Interstate 680 Sunday morning, according to the Contra Costa CHP.

Officers responding to reports of a collision at that location found two cars at about 1:21 a.m., according to the CHP, with a 2003 Nissan sedan fully engulfed with the driver inside.

Investigators located a 2019 Chevrolet Volt crashed in the center median with a lone male occupant inside and determined that the driver of the Volt had crashed into the Nissan after it was involved in an earlier solo crash and was blocking a portion of the freeway.

The identity of the person killed in the Nissan has yet to be released.

Investigation determined that the driver of the Chevy Volt, 68-year-old Dennis Toshimi Tajiri of Concord, was traveling east on Highway 24 when it came upon the disable Nissan and struck it – causing it to burst into flames.

Tajiri suffered only minor injuries and was transported to John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek, according to a CHP spokesman. While there, CHP conducted a DUI investigation and he was subsequently placed under arrest for felony Driving Under the Influence. Upon his release from the hospital, Tajiri was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility for felony DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter.

This collision is still under investigation and if anyone witnessed it or the events leading up to it, please contact Contra Costa CHP in Martinez, (925) 646-4980.

6 COMMENTS

  1. Is it only my impression, or are there lot more drunks driving around these days….with alot more fatalities?

    • Our area has been rocked by some pretty egregious cases, Greg, but we have no hard data on whether DUIs are up lately. If anyone is data mining, let us know if you find anything on the number of cases involving people booked for felony DUI who walk away from the accident scene with nary a scratch. The science suggests it’s because they are “looser” than their victims, who sustain more severe injuries upon impact. We have seen THAT a lot, yes.

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