On July 24, 2017, at approximately 12:35 p.m., Fremont Police Dispatch received a report of a rollover vehicle collision in Niles Canyon, west of Palomares Rd. Officers responded and located an overturned vehicle occupied by a single female occupant, who was pronounced deceased at the scene.
While the investigation remains ongoing, traffic officers interviewed witnesses as well as the driver and passenger of a second vehicle that had been struck by the driver just moments before the fatal collision. Officers learned the female driver, a 59 year old Pleasanton resident, had been driving eastbound in Niles Canyon and was tailgating the vehicle in front of her. She weaved within the lane in what appeared to be an attempt to pass the driver. In doing so, she rear-ended the vehicle causing the driver to lose control and go down an embankment. The vehicle stopping short of reaching the water. The driver and passenger in the vehicle suffered non-life threatening injuries.
The female driver sped away from the scene of the collision at a high rate of speed, continuing eastbound. As she went under a train bridge, her vehicle moved into the westbound lanes, while still driving eastbound. The driver swerved to avoid a collision with a westbound motorist and went up the embankment of a rock wall, causing the vehicle to flip over and land on its roof. When medical personnel arrived at the scene, she was pronounced deceased.
Niles Canyon was closed between I680 and Mission Blvd. to allow investigators to work the scene for several hours. Niles Canyon reopened at 7:00 p.m.
Anyone with information about this collision is asked to please contact Traffic Investigator A. Piol at [email protected] or 510-790-6760.
