Truck Driver Dies in East Bay Channel Crash

Richmond police said on May 20 that a death first investigated as suspicious in the city’s Shipyard District was caused by a solo-vehicle crash into the water near Canal Boulevard. Officers had responded on May 16 to a report of a possible dead person in the water near the 1300 block of Canal Boulevard and found the body, according to police. Detectives later located a white extended-cab pickup truck submerged nearby and said evidence indicated the driver had been alone. Police said there was no evidence of foul play. ### How did police move from a suspicious-death case to a crash investigation? Richmond police said officers were called at about 11:17 a.m. on Saturday, May 16, to the shoreline near Canal Boulevard in the Shipyard District after a report of a person in the water. The body was initially treated as a suspicious death while investigators worked to determine how the person ended up in the channel. On May 20, the department said detectives used its Flock Safety camera system to build a timeline and found video that appeared to show a vehicle entering the water at about 1 a.m. on May 16. That footage led investigators to reclassify the case as a solo-vehicle fatal collision, police said. CBS News Bay Area, citing Richmond police, reported that detectives found the submerged vehicle near Canal Boulevard after reviewing the footage. The vehicle was identified as a white extended-cab pickup truck. ### Where did the truck go into the water? The 1300 block of Canal Boulevard was the focus of the investigation, according to Richmond police. The roadway runs through the Shipyard District along industrial waterfront property and channels connected to San Francisco Bay. Richmond police said the truck entered the water near that stretch of Canal Boulevard. Bay City News, in a report carried by SFGATE, said police described the location as near Canal Boulevard in Richmond and said the vehicle appeared on video to enter the water there at about 1 a.m. on May 16. (cbsnews.com) ### Who took part in the recovery? Richmond police said the search for the submerged vehicle drew help from several agencies. The San Francisco Police Department marine unit, the Oakland Police Department marine unit and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office dive team assisted in locating and retrieving the pickup, police said. Richmond Standard reported that volunteer California Recovery Divers also took part and that crews used sonar equipment to locate the truck before divers extracted it. (cbsnews.com) Police said divers confirmed there were no additional occupants inside the vehicle. ### What do authorities say about the driver? Richmond police said the person found in the water was the driver and sole occupant of the pickup. Investigators said the evidence gathered so far showed no signs of foul play. As of the police update on May 20, the driver’s identity had not been publicly released. CBS News Bay Area reported that the victim had not been identified as of Wednesday morning. (cbsnews.com) ### What remains unresolved? The cause of the truck’s entry into the water was not described in the police update released on May 20. Richmond police did not say whether speed, impairment, a medical emergency or road conditions played a role. The Contra Costa County Coroner’s Office is expected to identify the driver after notification of next of kin, according to standard practice in fatal cases. Richmond police said the case had been reclassified as an accidental solo-vehicle collision and that the investigation found no evidence of a crime. (cbsnews.com)