Two CHP Officers Injured in Fairfield Interstate 80 Crash

FAIRFIELD, CA – Two California Highway Patrol officers were seriously injured shortly before midnight Tuesday when a Tesla struck the back of their patrol car in lanes closed for an earlier fatal collision on eastbound Interstate 80 in Fairfield, authorities said. Both officers were taken to NorthBay Hospital and later released. The Tesla driver was not injured.

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First Collision Closed Four Lanes

The sequence began at about 10:45 p.m. Oct. 13 west of Air Base Parkway. CHP said a 19-year-old man driving a Honda lost control for an unknown reason. A 47-year-old man driving a Chevrolet Tahoe then struck the Honda. The Honda driver was taken to a hospital, where he died. Investigators said alcohol did not appear to have contributed to that collision.

Four CHP officers were investigating the fatal crash about an hour later. Their vehicles were positioned across four eastbound lanes, and traffic was being diverted into the slow lane. The agency’s initial collision account said the closure was marked with flares and traffic cones to protect the officers and the evidence from the first crash.

At about 11:45 p.m., the eastbound Tesla traveled through the warning pattern and hit the rear of a Dodge Charger occupied by two officers, CHP said. The impact injured both officers inside the patrol car. The other two officers at the scene were not reported injured.

Dashcam Video Shows Impact

CHP released dashcam footage Thursday that showed the Tesla moving through the closed area before rear-ending the patrol car. The agency said the 22-year-old Sacramento driver told investigators he had been asleep and was using driver-assistance technology. The initial public account had not established whether Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system was active at the moment of impact.

The driver’s statement and the released video became part of a separate investigation into the second collision. CHP emphasized that motorists remain responsible for controlling their vehicles when using driver-assistance features. The agency had not announced a citation, arrest or final finding about why the Tesla continued into the closed lanes.

The two collisions kept the eastbound side of Interstate 80 closed through the night as officers documented the fatal crash and the later impact involving the patrol car. All eastbound lanes reopened at about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. CHP had not released additional medical details about the officers after confirming that both were discharged from the hospital.

Investigators also had not released a final reconstruction of either collision. The first investigation concerned the Honda’s loss of control and the Tahoe’s subsequent impact. The second focused on the Tesla’s movement through the established closure and into the occupied patrol vehicle.