SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Highway Patrol and the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office say a violent chain of events in South Sacramento that left two women dead started as a purse snatching.
“The victim was able to actually fight the suspect off and prevented their car from getting stolen,” said Sgt. Amar Gandhi, spokesperson for the sheriff's office.
It happened on Florin-Perkins Road, just north of Florin Road. Officers said the suspect then carjacked another vehicle, ran a red light and hit another car with two women inside.
"Unfortunately, the two people who were in that vehicle at the time probably didn’t stand a chance based on the impact,” said Mark Leavitt, spokesperson for CHP.
Both women died in the crash. Deputies said the suspect then allegedly jumped out of the stolen vehicle he crashed and tried to carjack another car.
"Our department had an inmate work crew nearby, and the deputy who was supervising that work crew heard the crash. They came over here to investigate and was able to actually detain the suspect,” said Gandhi.
Deputies said the suspect was taken to the hospital for his injuries from the crash and remains hospitalized.
The investigation into the crash continues.
"We do have cameras that we’ll be looking at," said Leavitt. "There may be dashcam from certain people who were nearby. We’ll definitely investigate all those possible leads.”
Authorities said the suspect will face several charges including robbery and carjacking. CHP will determine whether more serious charges will also be filed given the fatalities.
5:40 p.m. update:
According to California Highway Patrol, it has been determined a silver Toyota SUV with a 22-year-old driver from Sacramento was traveling northbound on French Road approaching Florin Road..
A grey Nissan sedan with a 49-year-old driver from Sacramento and a 42-year-old passenger approached were traveling westbound on Florin Road.
The Toyota ran a red light and broadsided the Nissan—the Nissan then collided with a white Ford van.
The Toyota driver tried fleeing on foot and attempted to carjack a nearby vehicle before he was apprehended by a Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy.
It was found the 22-year-old driver stole the Toyota from a carjacking at knifepoint earlier that day. He was later determined to be under the influence of drugs and arrested for suspicion of DUI.
The 49-year-old Nissan driver and her 42-year-old passenger were pronounced dead at the scene, while the 65-year-old Ford driver suffered minor injuries.
Sacramento County officials charged the 22-year-old driver with gross vehicular manslaughter while under the influence, felony DUI causing injury or death and felony hit-and-run.
Original story:
Two people are dead after a three-vehicle crash in South Sacramento Thursday.
California Highway Patrol said the crash happened on Florin Perkins Road, north of Florin Road.
Both north and southbound lanes of Florin Perkins Road are closed due to an ongoing investigation.
No other information is available at this time.
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