A man was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and his passenger was hospitalized after their car flipped and fell several hundred feet off of Interstate Highway 80 in Pinole on Monday night, according to California Highway Patrol and fire officials.
The pair was traveling east on Highway 80 in a sedan when the driver lost control of the car, which fell at least 300 feet off of the roadway, flipped over several times and landed on its roof in the center divider of Pinole Valley Road, Rodeo-Hercules fire Battalion Chief Bryan Craig said.
Fire crews responded to the scene of the collision shortly before 8 p.m. and upon arrival, emergency crews found the badly damaged car overturned with the two victims inside.
Crews were able to extricate the pair in about 10 minutes, Craig said.
The passenger, a 30-year-old woman from Elk Grove, was taken to a hospital with cuts, bruises, complaints of pain and other moderate injuries, the battalion chief said.
The driver, a Rancho Cordova resident in his mid 20s, suffered minor injuries, according to the CHP.
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"For the condition of the vehicle, they were in remarkable shape," Craig said.
The driver was found to be under the influence of alcohol and was arrested on suspicion of DUI. Witnesses in the area reported that he had been driving recklessly on Highway 80 leading up to the crash, CHP Officer John Fransen said.
The incident remains under investigation and anyone who may have witnessed the crash is asked to call the CHP Contra Costa area office at 925-646-4980.
