Witnesses sought as CHP investigates crash killing girl, 4, as family alleges road rage
Authorities continue to investigate a violent collision that left a 4-year-old girl dead and a driver with major injuries Thursday morning in Carmichael, with family telling authorities they believe the crash was caused by road rage.
The California Highway Patrol in a news release Thursday said a Fair Oaks woman involved in a collision around 7:20 a.m. on Winding Way told officers she had been cut off by a truck just before crashing into a tree, splitting her car in two pieces and leaving her young passenger with fatal injuries.
Spokesman Officer Greg Zumstein said family members of the woman have told CHP’s North Sacramento office that they believe the incident to be a case of road rage. But as of Friday morning, the CHP had “not been able to substantiate that” with evidence or direct witnesses, Zumstein said.
No arrests have been made and no suspect vehicle is currently connected with the collision, Zumstein said, but he urged any potential witnesses to the collision or the events leading directly up to it to contact the CHP.
Law enforcement agencies are also looking into a possible link between the collision and a fight that broke out between adults in the parking lot of a Carmichael middle school a few hours later.
Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Sgt. Tess Deterding said three men were cited for a fight at Barrett Middle School on Thursday afternoon, and that deputies “passed on info related to rumors that it was related to the accident earlier that day.”
“That wasn’t part of the deputies’ investigation,” Deterding said. “However, they did make sure that got to CHP.”
The nature of the rumored connection between the afternoon altercation and the morning crash was not clear.
Zumstein said the CHP’s investigation remains focused on “the actual collision itself” at this time. The CHP urges anyone with information on Thursday’s fatal collision to contact the North Sacramento office at 916-348-2300.
San Juan Unified School District spokeswoman Raj Rai confirmed an incident happened in the parking lot in front of Barrett Middle School shortly after 1:21 p.m., the school’s early dismissal time each Thursday. The school “pulled students back inside” with a precautionary lockdown until sheriff’s deputies arrived to address the altercation.
“I believe it was physical, but I don’t have the exact details on the exact event,” Rai said.
Law enforcement arrived within minutes, and the lockdown ended with students released around 1:30 p.m., less than 10 minutes after scheduled release time, according to Rai. No students were harmed.
The 4-year-old victim has not been identified by the coroner’s office as of Friday morning.
