Community mourns 3 teens killed in Livermore crash

LIVERMORE, Calif. - An East Bay community is in mourning after a car crashes into a semi-truck killing three teenagers in Livermore. Two of the victims were in high school and worked at Baskin Robbins. The driver who was killed had just graduated high school.

The crash happened Monday night in Livermore in an industrial part of town on Las Positas Road, west of Vasco Road.

A bouquet of flowers sat at the entrance of a truck yard on Las Positas Road in Livermore where police said at 10:30 p.m. Monday night, a semi-truck and a car collided. All three young occupants of the car died.

"I couldn't believe it," said Cole Bauer, a friend of the driver killed. "I thought there was no way that my friend died, you know? It was sad. I was depressed."

Bauer identified the driver as 18-year-old Rahul, a graduate of Vineyard High School in Livermore, who he said loved to skateboard and described him as the life of the party.

"My friend died you know, he was like my brother," said Bauer. "I want to know what happened. I don’t understand."

The truck yard is owned by transportation company J.B. Hunt. A manager said a semi-truck, operated by a third party, had made an illegal left-hand turn into the yard. Since the entrance gate was closed, the trailer was perpendicular to the road and stopped in the middle of the street.

For some unknown reason, the manager said the car, a white Mercedes, went underneath the trailer slicing the car in half.

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Matt Britton, a bicyclist, said a crash was bound to happen.

"I’ve seen very close calls here before," said Britton. "I just don’t know, driving down this street too fast but definitely these trucks there's a lot of them that come in and out of here."

Rahul’s young cousin, a Del Valle High School student and a friend who was a junior at Livermore High School also died.

Rahul had picked both of them up from work at Baskin Robbins.

"I knew Ian and Sedge," said Co-Worker Rebecca Clampitt. "As soon as we received news, we closed the store."

Clampitt said employees are grieving at the ice cream shop in north Livermore. It was closed Tuesday in memory of their team members.

"No one really expects something like this especially to such good kids," said Clampitt.

It’s unclear if the driver of the semi-truck will face any charges. He was uninjured and remained at the scene. The school district superintendent sent out a letter stating grief counseling will be available for students and staff.