5 killed in crash on Hwy. 160 south of Sacramento carjacking before pursuit leads to arrests

A violent crash in the Sacramento Delta left five people dead and one arrested late Thursday after a carjacking and police chase before sheriff’s deputies and CHP officers led the suspect miles away to Elk Grove.

Three women and two men were killed just before 5:30 a.m. when their Cadillac Escalade plowed into a tree in the 8600 block of River Road, signed as Highway 160 along the east bank of the river, about 1 mile south of the Freeport Bridge on the California highway. Patrol spokesman Officer Mark Levitt said.

Moments after the fatal crash, a man believed to be the sole survivor of the SUV allegedly carjacked a passing motorist — who pulled over to render aid to the victims. Levitt said authorities are trying to determine how the suspect was involved in the crash.

The suspect then got into the Volkswagen sedan, driving southeast toward Elk Grove. Nearby Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies located the stolen vehicle and followed the speeding suspect to Elk Grove Boulevard and Fire Poppy Drive, across the street from the Valley High Country Club.

Residents of Laguna Estates and Elk Grove Greens, where the chase ended, flooded social media with accounts of a chaotic scene: Elk Grove Boulevard and 20 law enforcement vehicles lined up like fire poppies as helicopters buzzed overhead. Witnesses said the man drove the stolen car through a yard and fence before scaling a fence on Valley High’s course. The suspect entered Laguna Lake Way several hundred yards east where he was met by authorities and detained.

The man was reportedly unharmed, but was taken to a hospital for evaluation and for investigators to check if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, the CHP’s Levitt said. The man whose car was carjacked was also unharmed, authorities said.

Meanwhile, Highway 160 was expected to remain closed overnight from Hood-Franklin Road to the Freeport Bridge, according to Caltrans, while a CHP major accident investigation team was monitoring the scene in Delta. The bridge over the Sacramento River is also expected to remain closed overnight.