Couple suspected of stealing a car killed after hitting semi during high-speed chase

Two suspects are dead following a fatal collision after an attempt to evade police Thursday morning, according to a news release from the Yuba-Sutter County Highway Patrol.

The incident occurred at about 8:16 a.m. Thursday on Highway 20 just west of West Butte Road, which is west of Yuba City. The suspects, identified as Jared Andrew Russell, 21, and Kelli Christine Zanon, 25, were heading eastbound on Highway 20 near the Colusa city limit in a 1997 Honda Accord. According to the release, the vehicle they were driving was reported stolen.

An off-duty police officer recognized the vehicle while he was traveling home form work and requested backup from marked police units. Officers from the Colusa County Sheriff’s Office and the Colusa Police Department located the Honda while it was still eastbound on Highway 20 at the edge of Colusa.

Once Russell realized hat he was being pursued, he accelerated the car to over 100 mph, police said.

Officers pursued Russell until he attempted to pass vehicles on the Sutter Bypass Bridge. Russell began to drive eastbound in the westbound lane and ran head-on into a westbound semi-truck.

Russell was taken to the Rideout Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Zanon was taken to UC Davis Medical Center, where she was also pronounced dead.

The driver of the big rig truck, Lakhvir Singh, was uninjured.

This story was originally published August 1, 2019 at 4:15 PM.