DUI suspected after woman killed, man injured by wrong-way driver on Capital City Freeway
Authorities suspect DUI after a motorist driving the wrong way on the Capital City Freeway crashed head-on into a vehicle Sunday, killing a female passenger and injuring the driver.
The crash happened just after 9 a.m. on the northbound lanes of the freeway just before the off-ramp for Exposition Boulevard, said Officer Justin Fetterly, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol’s North Sacramento office.
The driver of a Toyota Corolla, driven by a man in his 30s, entered the freeway going the wrong direction and collided with a Nissan Altima with two occupants. The force of the crash launched the Corolla into the concrete center divide of the freeway.
The driver of the Altima, a man in his his late 20s according to Fetterly, was hospitalized with injuries. His passenger, identified by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office as Cheryl Ann Nicholle Reed, 30, of Sacramento, was killed in the crash.
A family member identified the injured driver as Robert Allen and created a GoFundMe to raise money for his medical expenses. Rahsja Allen said that he and Reed were engaged to be married and that the crash left him “with severe injuries including a major punctured artery, broken legs, a bruised liver, and fractured ribs.”
The Corolla driver then escaped the crash scene on foot, Fetterly said. CHP officers caught up to the man after he hid out in a hotel lobby on nearby Tribute Road. Authorities sent the man to the hospital for injuries suffered in the crash and he was expected to be booked into Sacramento County Main Jail once medically cleared, Fetterly said.
While the investigation into the crash was ongoing, Fetterly said, officers suspect the driver of the Corolla was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the crash.
This story was originally published June 3, 2024 at 10:19 AM.
