A late-night drive across the Bay Bridge turned fatal when a San Mateo woman allegedly looked down to change the radio and slammed into slowing traffic, triggering a chain-reaction wreck that killed a 27-year-old man, authorities say. The multi-car collision unfolded in the westbound lanes near Yerba Buena Island after one car rear-ended another in heavy traffic, setting off a pileup that shut down most of the span.
According to The Mercury News, Alameda County prosecutors last Thursday charged Adele Mari Lee with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. Court documents cited by the outlet state that Lee’s vehicle rear-ended a silver Toyota Corolla driven by Erwin Jacob Patawaran Lecitona, pushing it into other cars. Lecitona had two passengers in the Corolla, and one of them was injured.
The California Highway Patrol said the crash happened around 11:17 PM on the westbound I-80 near the Treasure Island/Yerba Buena Island incline when a high-speed Genesis failed to slow for traffic ahead, according to SFGATE. The Genesis hit the Corolla, setting off a four-vehicle chain reaction that shut most westbound lanes. First responders had to extricate Lecitona from the Corolla; he was rushed to an Oakland hospital with major head injuries and later died…