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Tag: Accident

  • Sunrise Blvd closed briefly after injury crash involving tree

    Sunrise Blvd closed briefly after injury crash involving tree

    A two-vehicle collision caused a portion of Sunrise Boulevard to be temporarily closed after sending one vehicle into a tree and several people to the hospital Sunday, according to a sergeant with the Citrus Heights Police Department.

    Police block traffic on Sunrise Boulevard in Citrus Heights
    An officer directs traffic at Oak Avenue after police closed off a portion of Sunrise Boulevard, Sunday afternoon.

    Around 5 p.m. Sunday, police responded to a call of a vehicle collision with a tree, where officers on scene discovered that two vehicles had collided, causing one to end up off the road and into a tree, according to CHPD Sergeant Michael Wells.

    Police said several people from both vehicles were transported to the hospital “for complaints of pain and precautionary reasons,” and portions of Sunrise Boulevard near Sayonara Drive up to Oak Avenue were closed while vehicles were towed from the scene.

    Sunrise Boulevard was reopened shortly after 6 p.m.

  • Truck collision severs power pole; closes Antelope Road

    Updated 12:57 p.m.–
    A power pole was left severed at the base and dangling along the roadside this morning when a pickup slammed into the pole, cutting power and causing Citrus Heights police to temporarily shut down traffic on Antelope Road.

    CHPD, SMUD pole accident. Photo credit: Luke Otterstad
    Citrus Heights police and SMUD crews respond to the Antelope Road accident, Thursday morning.

    Sergeant Mike Wells with the Citrus Heights Police Department said the vehicle was traveling east on Antelope Road around 6:20 a.m. when it struck the pole, causing it to fall into the roadway. Responding officers closed down both directions of Antelope from Auburn Boulevard to Mariposa Avenue.

    No other vehicles were involved in the collision, and there were no reports of injuries “at this time,” according to the sergeant.

    Sacramento Municipal Utility District crews were observed working on the downed pole shortly after the collision, and estimate power to be restored by 1 p.m., according to the utility company’s website.

    A SMUD outage map online shows the power outage occurring at 6:17 a.m., with Citrus Heights police alerting media via email of the road closure around 6:30 a.m.

    The road was re-opened by 7:10 a.m., according to CHPD.

  • CRIME UPDATE: red-light runner fled scene of 4-car crash at Sunrise/Greenback

    Citrus Heights police said this morning that a four-car accident Thursday night was caused by a female suspect who fled the scene after running a red light and ramming another vehicle in the intersection of Greenback Lane and Sunrise Boulevard.

    “Initial reports are that the driver of [a] Cadillac ran a red light and broadsided another vehicle,” said Citrus Heights Police Department Sergeant Bryan Fritsch, who indicated the suspect was driving at a “high rate of speed” on Greenback Lane and fled the scene on foot afterwards. He said the suspect had been identified as a woman in her thirties, but added, “the status of her arrest is unknown at this time.”

    The collision occurred just after 8 p.m. Thursday, partially blocking traffic at the intersection as about a dozen officers responded to the scene and diverted Sunrise Boulevard traffic to Greenback Lane.

    The driver of the broadsided Hyundai was taken to a local hospital with unknown injuries, while drivers of the two other vehicles involved were uninjured, according to police.

    All details have not been released yet, as police say the investigation is still underway. The incident is likely to have been caught on the intersection’s red light cameras, which take video of activity occurring after a light turns red.

  • 4-car collision blocks Sunrise/Greenback intersection

    Updated Nov. 8, 7:59 a.m.–
    A collision involving at least four cars at the intersection of Sunrise Boulevard and Greenback Lane blocked several lanes of traffic Thursday night, as about a dozen officers responded to the scene.

    “Citrus Heights has a road closure due to a collision,” Senior Dispatcher Tina Mack with the Citrus Heights Police Department said in an email alert to media around 8:30 p.m. Thursday. “All southbound Sunrise Boulevard lanes are closed at Greenback Lane.  Traffic is diverted to eastbound and westbound Greenback Lane.”

    By 10 p.m. all lanes had been re-opened.

    Police did not return a phone call requesting comment Friday morning. Reports of injuries and the cause of collision are unknown at this time.

    *Editor’s note: Latest updates on this collision were posted in this follow-up story: “CRIME UPDATE: red-light runner fled scene of 4-car crash at Sunrise/Greenback”

  • Antelope Road Lanes Closed Twice from Two Major Injury Accidents

    Several lanes on Antelope Road at Sunrise Boulevard were shut down for five hours Monday, after officers responded to a motor scooter injury accident around 3 a.m. – just 12 hours later, Antelope Road lanes were shut down again when a bicyclist collided with a vehicle just a few blocks away at the Auburn Road intersection.

    Police_Traffic_Antelope_zoom
    Citrus Height police conduct investigation at Antelope Road and Auburn Boulevard, Monday.

    The morning collision involved a scooter carrying two people, which reports say struck a median after sliding 250 feet along the ground. Police said the afternoon collision involved a bicyclist crossing Antelope Road against a red light, who struck a van that was lawfully in the intersection.

    The morning collision resulted in several lanes being closed for five hours during commute time as police conducted an investigation, and lanes were closed again in the afternoon for about an hour.

    Police said no helmets were worn by those involved in both the morning and afternoon crashes, and all three persons were hospitalized with injuries ranging from moderate to critical.

    A Citrus Heights Police Department press release sent out after Monday’s injury accidents reminded bicyclists “to obey all rules of the road, including riding with the flow of traffic, and to protect themselves by wearing a helmet.”

    The CHPD requests that anyone who may have seen the afternoon collision contact their Traffic Unit at 916-727-5500.

  • DUI Checkpoint Planned in Citrus Heights

    Police officers plan to set up a DUI Checkpoint at an undisclosed location this weekend, as part of an effort to reduce the number of alcohol-related accidents and fatalities, according to a press release issued by the Citrus Heights Police Department.

    Two Police Officers on Motorcycles with Lights On // Photo by Luke Otterstad, Citrus Heights SentinelOfficers from the CHPD Traffic Unit will be stopping drivers who pass through the checkpoint and checking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment, beginning Friday at 7 p.m. and continuing until 2 a.m. Officers will also be checking for valid driver’s licenses, and “will strive to delay motorists only momentarily,” according to the release.

    CHPD acquires funding for its checkpoints through a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and has found the results to be successful — with the Department reporting that its last checkpoint resulted in two DUI-suspect arrests, 15 citations and three impounded vehicles. The six-hour checkpoint was held on August 1 and screened 820 cars at the intersection of Greenback Lane and Birdcage Street.

    “The deterrent effect of DUI checkpoints is a proven resource in reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol or drug involved crashes,” the release reads. “Research shows that crashes involving alcohol drop by an average of 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough.”

    The Department is also planning a “DUI Patrol Saturation” for September 1, as part of its ongoing effort to reduce accidents and fatalities in Citrus Heights.