A police chase ended in a fiery crash in Danville early Saturday morning, sending an eleventh grade high school student to the hospital with critical injuries and a shock wave through a community celebrating high school graduations.
At least five youthful occupants of an overturned vehicle – reportedly all freshly-graduated seniors from Monte Vista High School in Danville – were pulled from the wreckage by police who were chasing them a few short seconds before.
Details from police remain spartan, but witnesses report that Danville PD was chasing the car for alleged traffic offenses on Diablo Road near the Blackhawk Country Club at about 1 a.m. The car reached estimated speeds of 90 mph and sped through red lights before officers were left behind. At that point the fleeing car sheared the front end off a Tesla at Camino Tassajara and Crow Canyon Road, causing the primary car to roll over into some shrubbery and burst into flames.
“You could feel the warmth of the fire from across the street. It was huge,” area resident Dan Rogers, who was in the area at the time of the crash, told NEWS24/680 videographer Craig Cannon, who was also on scene within minutes.
One person crawled out of the overturned car while several others remained trapped inside. The occupants of the Tesla escaped injury.
The speeding car came to rest upside down outside a Starbucks outlet. A witness said the police arrived on scene and were seen and heard breaking glass and pulling multiple young people out of the fully engulfed car. Other first responders had to breach the Starbucks in order to reach the injured.
Seven patients were treated for various injuries with several of those patients transported to a local trauma center. The driver of the car, a Monte Vista junior reportedly driving a carload of senior girls at the time of the incident – suffered major injuries.
The roadway was eventually re-opened around noon.
Videographer/Craig Cannon
good statement by that bystander at the end!!! So true lately.
Yes. Nailed it.
O no. Injuries??
It is so tempting to be young and reckless, especially when summer vacation is brand new. How incredibly luckily police were already in pursuit and there’s a fire station literally within walking distance of this crash. Hope all recover.
I hope they had the bejeavers scared out of them and never try anything like this again! Youthful exuberance does need to be rained in once in awhile. They are darn lucky!
Any word on the people in the car they hit?
They were very lucky.
Please tell us they weren’t recent graduates.
Yes they just came from graduation
Not true. They were juniors and not seniors. Graduation ended at 8:20 and 95% of the seniors were on the USS Hornet in Alameda at that time. They did not get back until 5:30 this morning where they were all picked by parents.
And everyone in the car was a senior except for the driver who is a junior.
Still having problems with this driving responsibly thing I see.
Praying that no one died in this
Someone did die
Source, please.
That witness was good. He got it right.
I drove by when it was light. It looks like a bomb went off in there.
Is the Flash your alert system and where do I go to get it???
Hey, Maresce. Yes it is. This is a paid service. You can find the link on the upper right hand quadrant of our web site. Fill out a few info fields and we can get you up and Flashing in seconds!
NEWS24/680
I read one youth died in this accident.
Rumor starting to build — did someone die in this?
Hunter – We agree that rumors are starting to build. While we are hearing much of them we have been, so far, unable to confirm any of that information. We are seeking confirmation. Not much is being released.
NEWS24/680
Did this start at a graduation celebration????
While we have heard this we have no direct confirmation that it was so.
NEWS24/680
Yes
Which one?
They are Monte Vista students.
I hope these police officers are recognized for their heroic actions.
Why would the police chase a car dangerously through Danville putting others at risk for a traffic violation? That’s sad. Other city’s have a do not chase policy for small traffic violations.
I would guess that due to all our recent burglaries police are cruising neighborhoods looking for vehicle out of place or moving suspiciously. I’m not police but I would have to think that if a car is blowing red lights and then speeding away at high speed it is for a reason — which has happen in the past. They probably only realized the car was full of kids when they were pulling them out.
Ya, Steve…Let’s Blame the police for doing their job of keeping our community and citizens safe. Not the kids nor their parents that think they are above the law and entitled. You should be ashamed of your comment, blaming the men and women that protect your community and family. Not the lack of parenting teaching our kids to obey the law and respect authority. You should do a ride-along to see what it’s really like to protect your community and family. You will have a different outlook.. Must have a desk job.
Exactly well said Jason. I live around the corner and youths are constantly driving extremely fast with their fancy cars and I couldn’t agree with you more.
Driving 90 MPH through red lights is extreme dangerous and the police were doing their job.
@Jason – How, precisely, did this pursuit keep ANYONE “safe?”
Before the police initiated the pursuit through a heavily residential corridor, the community WAS relatively safe.
After the pursuit culminated in a fiery collision with the uninvolved Tesla, FIVE CHILDREN were seriously injured (some perhaps gravely), including some presumably disfigured for life by severe burns.
This tragic outcome is insoluble with any notion of a “safe community” or “protecting families.”
It is rather presumptuous to deride the innocent victims as “kids (sic) that think they are above the law and entitled.” Indeed, four of the injured CHILDREN riding in the RAV4 didn’t choose to evade police. They were literally passengers stuck in a reckless clash of egos between zealous adult deputies and the impulsive child driving the RAV4. Moreover, the occupants of the Tesla were entirely uninvolved in the pursuit.
Did the police “protect” them, too? Did the police keep their families “safe?”
This perspective is completely valid. There are still many unknown details before the pursuit. We don’t know if they car was actually stopped at one point or if the police were aware kids were driving/ in the car. Also its possible that the driver would have still kept up at that speed even if the cops decided to not chase the vehicle. The police did however save all those kids lives and seem to have responded extremely well and critically following the crash.
Wow, Steve. Way to miss the point entirely. Congrats.
They were speeding. They were drinking. Don’t blame the police. They did what they are supposed to do. And they saved some lives in the process. RIP to the driver. Sad for all. And also sad for the Officer.
No one has passed, thank god
Rest In Peace to the driver isn’t the first thing that comes to my mind.
Jason you are RIGHT ON!! I’m sad for the students n their injuries .. pray god that they’re not so serious that they are incapacitated for life… but they learn .. FOLLOW THE LAW.. OBEY ALL RULES AND DO WHAT IS RIGHT…. But then again I’ve been exposed to parents being verbally abusive to people in authority (in front of their children) for just doing their job and they themselves disrespecting laws, guidelines and structure and that’s where this generation of entitlement learn to DISrespect what is laid out to them for their safety, their protection and for what is trying to be taught to them .. it’s TIME to take this negativity back and restructure how we regain respect honor and authority of and to the Law, and in schools and overall respectful living as it use to be respected .. taught and learned!!
I am so sad for all the parents on this teens, my prayers for all the teens to do ok.
I hope we haven’t lost anyone because of this.
Thanks for your coverage.
Yes. Consistent and restrained from the beginning. Needed.
Why? I just don’t understand why someone would do this.
We are all shocked that an adolescent driving a car full of adolescent peers would behave this way. Tens upon tens of thousands of years of human evolution, and this is where we find ourselves. Shocked. Oblivious. No concensus on the facts.
You cannot logically continue to say: “This is not who we are” when the facts repeatedly illustrate that this is precisely who we are.
Luckily they’ll be able to vote in a year and make equally intelligent decisions.
Will they tho make intelligent decisions??? This generation (most not all) are raised with the concept of entitlement!!! Example: when a youth gets in trouble at school or with the law or does anything that they get in trouble for.. their parents DEFEND them knowing they’re own child is wrong and point the finger at who’s doing their jobs and say they’re wrong .. instead of holding their own to stand up and take due consequences .. what does that teach our children??? Children are BRIBED and sweet talked in order to have them do what’s expected INSTEAD of being told THIS IS HOW WHY or MUST be done or (consequence) and stuck to it!! With LOVE and a consequence they can live and stand by!!! Otherwise, they’ll never know to follow rules, standard guidelines, or structure, for schools and jobs.. living life withIN positive results and always trying to beat the system!!!
Trying to understand why a young man would put so many others at risk by running like that.
It would be enlightening to know what was said and took place in that RAV when the first police car came into view.
The mindset that believes this is the fault of police is exactly the mindset that raises people who behave like this, no accountability for their own actions.
I hope that these young adults are able to recover and learn from their poor choices, it’s certainly no way to start summer.
Totally agree
The police has a duty to protect the four children riding as passengers in the RAV4 and the Tesla occupants. The police reaction here did exactly that the opposite. Everyone involved in the collision was demonstrably LESS SAFE because of the police response.
Such BS! How would the police know how many occupants? You don’t know they knew that. And…when you need the police to chase something, you’d be happy they did. This lawlessness of running from the police has to stop.
If the RAV4 had crashed into another car at 90 mph and killed everyone in that car, everyone would be asking why the police weren’t doing their job and stopping the RAV4 from speeding and running red lights. The police truly cannot win in these situations.
Well said Himm.
Some sort of statement from police – other than the road is closed or the road is open – would be helpful.
Agree
I agree.
I am very skeptical of policing in this country. I don’t see any publicly available evidence of bad policing here. I see evidence of a scared, injudicious adolescent at the wheel.
I respect privacy, and I’m thinking of those who were injured . However, I think the community deserves a statement . This was a major accident and any of us could have been innocently on the road that night . Nobody needs names, or blame, just more info from the Police, the Town of Danville . It sends the wrong message when things are not transparent .
Agree
I want to add , when you blow through a red light at 1am, then don’t pull over with a cop behind you – that’s a real problem . Let’s start there –
Interesting response from Danville, media and posters. Blame the police for chasing. Prayers for the “kids”. Concerns if they are ok. Calling them victims of the crash.
If the occupants of the car looked different it would be great job Danville PD. Pictures and names of the “suspects” in police chase posted. Criminals driving drunk getting what they deserve.
The police should just get the license plate number. Danville is certainly not a criminal environment that requires this kind of excessive speed chase. I don’t believe in high speed chases for running a red light. So now we have a dumb kid who can’t drive and poor judgment and almost killed 7 people (including the Tesla) and for what? Running a red light…
Danville parents on social media after a successful police stop:
“Yay!” “Back the Blue!” “We luv our PD!!!”
Danville parents on social media after one of their kids is stopped:
“How dare you put our children at risk!” “Excessive policing!” “Review your tactics!!” “Do better!”
So wrong Ray. Without a physical description of the driver it’s all hearsay. No one is responsible, no one gets blamed for reckless driving. The driver would have had the whole summer to continue driving recklessly because there are would be no consequences. How many more opportunities to hurt/kill people. What if you were in the Tesla or other car when this kid ran a red light? This kid had no business driving reckless. The passengers in the car “may” have been encouraging the driver too. Don’t forget the police pulled these kids out of the vehicle too, at their own risk. Tired of our kids are good or we live in a safe environment.
Ray, when you blow through a red light you put others in danger- running from the police sends a very bad message . ( why run unless you have a reason to ) . Also plenty of people from all over drive through Danville not just locals, but locals are not above the law –
Ray, the license plate identifies the automobile, not the driver, not the red-light runner. And, second, as a practical matter, how does one obtain the license plate number of a speeding vehicle without pursuing it?
This craziness of running from the police has to stop!!! The police did NOTHING wrong here! This is 100% on the driver and no one else!
this is %100 the fault of the driver behind the wheel.