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FREMONT (KTVU) – A man has been hospitalized after crashing his car into a tree in Fremont Sunday night. Police suspect he may have been street racing.
According to a witness who spoke with police, just before 10:30 p.m.. Sunday, a Lincoln Town car and another vehicle were at a stoplight at Paseo Padre Parkway and Sequoia Road.
Police say the witness thought the drivers may have been racing because they both accelerated quickly when the light turned green. By the time the witness caught up to them, the Lincoln Town Car was already wrapped around the tree and split in half.
The impact was so powerful the steering wheel landed on the passenger side of the vehicle.
Officers had the southbound lanes of Paseo Padre Parkway closed from Sequoia Road to Peralta Blvd. for at least seven hours.
“Its got a pretty good curve to it,” said Sgt. Tony Tassano with the Fremont Police Dept. “Speeds 35 to 40 miles an hour is a safe speed. We estimated the speed at 70 plus based on skids, and then when you look at the amount of impact damage and you hit a tree, it basically sheared the motor from the front of the vehicle. The motor actually continued past where the car stopped.” Sgt. Tassano said.
Firefighters had to take the roof off of the Town car to get the driver out. He suffered from broken legs, a broken arm and a broken clavicle.
Police say the second vehicle that was believed to be involved stopped but no one was injured.
Neither driver has admitted to racing.