Sacramento woman who died after climbing over Highway 99 median identified by coroner
A 20-year-old Sacramento woman killed Sunday after climbing the Highway 99 median and walking into traffic in Elk Grove has been identified by the coroner.
Rubidia Cartagena Alvarenga has been named by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office as the driver of a Toyota Prius that the California Highway Patrol says drove away from a three-vehicle, non-injury crash around 10:30 p.m. Sunday on southbound Highway 99.
The Prius continued to travel south on Highway 99 from the initial crash near Laguna Boulevard with major front-end damage, the CHP South Sacramento office said in an earlier news release. After about a half-mile, the vehicle became disabled and the driver exited, climbed over the center median and started to cross northbound traffic on foot for unknown reasons, according to the CHP.
The pedestrian was then struck in the middle lane of northbound Highway 99 by a Honda Civic driven by a 29-year-old Sacramento man who called 911 and cooperated with authorities at the scene. The Honda driver was released and no arrests were made, the news release said.
Alvarenga was pronounced dead at the scene within minutes, according to the Coroner’s Office.
The CHP South Sacramento office continues to investigate and has asked drivers who may have witnessed either collision to call the office at 916-681-2300.
Due to a spelling discrepancy in official documents, the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office has corrected the previous spelling of Alvarenga, which was used in a previous version of this story.
This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 11:58 AM.
