Police in Antioch believe excessive speed and wet conditions most likely led to a fatal crash Friday that killed two people and injured four others.
Officers with the Antioch Police Department responded Friday at 7 p.m. to Lone Tree Way and Indian Hill Drive on a report of a vehicle that had crashed into a tree.
“We just saw the accident it was really scary, we pulled over and we called 911 and we tried to help the people out but it was really bad,” said Dennis Gravelinko a resident of Antioch.
Responding officers located a vehicle on the south sidewalk of Lone Tree Way that had sustained extensive damage.
Officers found one passenger had been ejected from the vehicle during the crash, and five people were still trapped inside the vehicle. Firefighters had to use the jaws of life to rescue the passengers trapped inside. Two people were pronounced dead at the scene.
Police say everyone in the car was between 13 and 17 years old and that they were returning from a basketball game from Deer Valley High School.
The father of 13-year-old Jaia Lightner confirmed his daughter was one of those killed. He said the teens were on the way to get something to eat Lightner attended Delta Vista Middle School and her father said she was an avid soccer player.
Antioch Unified School District said in a statement they believe that at least three individuals in the car were students from the district. Grief counselors have been contacted and will be at three school, the district said.
It took about an hour and a half for firefighters to extricate the driver and passengers from the vehicle. The driver was one of the people who died, fire spokesman Steve Hill said.
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Four of the victims were transported to local trauma centers with injuries that ranged from moderate to life threatening, and two victims were pronounced deceased at the scene.
Hill said two of the injured were taken to John Muir Health: Walnut Creek Medical Center in Walnut Creek and the other two were taken to UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland.
"The roads are wet now," Hill said, and stopping distances are dramatically increased. "It would be a great weekend to slow down."
Hill said the SUV was literally wrapped around a tree. The speed limit in the area is 45 mph, according to Hill.
