CHP Chase Ends in Deadly Crash

A suspect drunk driver is suspected of killing two friends as he attempted to get away from the California Highway Patrol.

San Jose police said the two men died when the car they were in crashed in downtown San Jose early Thursday morning.

It was not immediately clear if the CHP was actually chasing the car at the time of the crash.

The CHP reported two officers on patrol in a marked car stopped a 2003 Ford Explorer with no license plate on Carlysle Street.  The CHP said as the officers got out of their car, the driver of the Explorer drove away at a high rate of speed.

Minutes later, police officers responded to the intersection of East St. James and North Sixth streets on a report of a vehicle that had crashed into two parked cars and overturned.
     
The car crashed involved four people, including a 19-year-old driver, a male passenger in the front seat and two more in the back, San Jose police Officer Jose Garcia said.
     
The two men in the rear of the car were pronounced dead at the scene.
     
The driver and front-seat passenger were taken to a hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening. The driver, Jose Hernandez of San Jose, was arrested on suspicion of two counts of vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence, possession of drugs, driving on a suspended license and evading an officer/failing to yield to an officer.
      
San Jose police are handling the investigation into the crash, while the CHP is investigating the events that led up to it.

This is the second deadly crash involving a CHP pursuit  downtown San Jose. Back in July a car fleeing officers crashed into another car killing an innocent 15-year-old girl named Leyda Montufar.

Bay City News

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