5 killed, including 16-year-old, in Hwy. 160 crash before carjacking leads to driver’s arrest in Elk Grove
Five people died, including a teenager, after an SUV crashed Thursday evening along the Sacramento Delta, and its alleged driver was arrested after carjacking another motorist and leading law enforcement on a dramatic chase that ended in Elk Grove, authorities said.
Three women, a man and a 16-year-old boy were killed just before 5:30 p.m. when the Cadillac Escalade they were riding in plowed into a tree on the 8600 block of River Road, signed as Highway 160 along the river’s east bank, about 1 mile south of the Freeport Bridge, California Highway Patrol spokesman Officer Mark Leavitt said.
All five passengers were ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene, the CHP said in a Friday news release, at least three of whom were not wearing seat belts.
Authorities and witnesses say moments after the fatal crash, the SUV’s driver and lone survivor carjacked a passing motorist who had pulled over to offer assistance to the victims.
The CHP identified the suspect Friday as Cameron Garcia, 28, of Sacramento. Authorities believe Garcia was under the influence of alcohol at time of the crash.
Driver allegedly carjacked Samaritan’s car
After the Cadillac crash, Garcia allegedly took off in the Volkswagen sedan he had carjacked, going southeast toward Elk Grove, CHP officials said.
Nearby Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies and Elk Grove police identified the stolen vehicle and pursued the speeding suspect onto Elk Grove Boulevard and Fire Poppy Drive, across the street from Valley Hi Country Club.
Residents in Laguna Estates and Elk Grove Greens, where the chase ended, flooded social media with accounts of a chaotic scene: As many as 20 law enforcement vehicles lined Elk Grove Boulevard and Fire Poppy as a helicopter buzzed overhead.
The stolen Volkswagen crashed into another vehicle at some point during the pursuit, according to the CHP news release. No one was injured in that collision, authorities said.
Garcia reportedly ditched the stolen car to flee through yards and over fences, witnesses said, before scaling the fence into Valley Hi’s course. The suspect made his way onto Laguna Lake Way several hundred yards east where he was met by authorities and detained.
Three victims identified
The 16-year-old boy killed in the crash was identified Friday by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office as Curvontay Swygert, of Sacramento. The man killed was identified as Monte Nunn, 29, of Sacramento.
Two of the three women killed were identified as Faith Nicole Samuel, 18, and Izabelle Larae Salaz-Stephens, 19, of Sacramento. The remaining victim’s identity had not been released as of Friday afternoon, pending notification of family. The CHP has described her as a woman of unknown age.
Garcia was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on five counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, as well as other charges including carjacking, vehicle theft and hit-and-run resulting in death, jail booking records show. Garcia also faces felony and misdemeanor DUI charges.
Leavitt initially said the carjacking suspect was not hurt, but Friday’s news release said Garcia had moderate injuries and was treated at a hospital before being booked into jail early Friday.
The person who was carjacked was unhurt, authorities said.
Garcia’s bail is set at $5.5 million. He is due in Sacramento Superior Court for an initial appearance Tuesday afternoon.
The CHP said the Elk Grove Police Department is expected to add additional charges in the case.
