A 43-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of DUI after she led police on a pursuit last week.
The Signal of Santa Clarita reports that at approximately 5:41 p.m. on Tuesday, November 16, 2021, a suspected DUI driver in a 2021 GMC Denali pickup truck was spotted erratically in the southbound lanes of State Route 126 in Oxnard.
California Highway Patrol officers responded to the call and initiated an enforcement stop. Refusing to stop, the driver increased speed. The CHP officers then followed in pursuit.
The CHP collision report later stated that the pickup truck held a single occupant who “continued driving erratically while traversing various freeways.”
The driver continued to Interstate 5 Freeway through Santa Clarita Valley and toward the Greater Los Angeles area.
During the pursuit on the 5 Freeway, the driver was observed veering from the Number 1 Lane to the Number 3 Lane, where they collided with the rear-end of a semi tractor-trailer rig. The impact caused the pickup truck to collide with the concrete center divider of the freeway, where it came to a stop.
Responding officers found the driver unconscious and broke out a window to extricate her from her vehicle. Officers performed CPR on her until Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics arrived at the scene. She was taken to the Los Angeles University of California Medical Center to treat her injuries in the crash. As of Friday, November 19, the woman was still listed in serious condition.
Officials with the CHP said that the series of events leading up to the crash is currently being investigated by the Highway Patrol’s Major Crimes Unit.
