Four men killed in fiery crash in Granite Bay. Speeding Mercedes hit a tree, CHP says
Four men were killed after a speeding Mercedes-Benz hit a tree Wednesday night in Granite Bay, authorities said.
The single-vehicle crash happened shortly after 9 p.m. in the area of East Roseville Parkway and Brackenbury Way, according to Officer Dave Martinez, spokesman for the California Highway Patrol’s Auburn office.
A white Mercedes C-class sedan traveling on East Roseville Parkway veered off the roadway at a high rate of speed and crashed “head-on” into a tree, Martinez said, before hitting a second tree and coming to rest. The car then burst into flames, he said.
All four occupants of the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene, Martinez said.
The three passengers were identified Thursday by the Placer County Sheriff’s Office as Patrick Gainer, 65; Paul Hammack, 53; and Karan Pannu, 45. All were Granite Bay residents.
The driver was identified as Jerry Cepel, 61, of Roseville.
The crash remains under investigation, and it is unknown whether drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash, Martinez said.
This story was originally published December 15, 2022 at 7:55 AM.
