Driver causes 3-car crash in Berkeley, flees on foot
A Volkswagen Jetta sustained heavy damage, its airbags covered in blood, but it was abandoned when police arrived.
A driver and his passenger fled the scene after causing a three-car crash in South Berkeley late Monday night, leaving a mess but no serious injuries to the people who remained, authorities said.
Witnesses said the driver and his male passenger both walked away from a Volkswagen Jetta after causing the crash at Sacramento Street and Alcatraz Avenue.
The Jetta sustained heavy damage, its airbags covered in blood, but it was abandoned when police arrived.
The incident happened at about 11:40 p.m. Monday, the Berkeley Police Department said.
One driver had been northbound on Sacramento waiting at the red light as another driver, who had the green light, headed east on Alcatraz Avenue, police said.
That's when a southbound driver, in the Jetta, sped through the red light and struck the eastbound car, Berkeley police said. Then they collided with the car that had been waiting at the light.
The driver and passenger, both men, got out of the Jetta and walked in separate directions: One headed north and one headed west, police said.
No one was taken to the hospital after the crash. All three cars — the Jetta, a Mercedes and a Chevrolet — were towed from the scene.
The Jetta was registered to a home in South Berkeley but no one answered the door when police went to search for the car's owner after the crash, BPD said.
There were some reports of possible gunfire at the time of the crash, but police found no evidence of a shooting when they investigated.
Saturday: Wrong-way cyclist struck, taken to hospital
On Saturday night, a man in his late 70s was taken to the hospital after being struck by a driver as he biked up the wrong side of Sacramento Street, police said.
The incident happened at 8:35 p.m. Saturday as the cyclist headed north in the southbound lanes of Sacramento Street, BPD said.
The driver had been heading north on Sacramento but made a U-turn at Stuart Street and struck the cyclist, authorities said.
The cyclist, who had no headlight or helmet, according to police, sustained a head injury and was transported to Highland Hospital, the regional trauma center.
The driver remained at the scene for the investigation.
