Rollover Crash Injures 3, Crunches Sports Car In East Palo Alto

MENLO PARK, CA -- A huge crash heard by a resident living near University Avenue and Purdue Street in East Palo Alto at 8:24 p.m. Thursday turned into what barely resembles a mangled, flipped Mitsubishi convertible sports car with one of three occupants trapped inside.

The Menlo Park Fire Protection District dispatched a tour de force of personnel and resources to the scene. Capt. Troy Holt noted the single vehicle roll-over had landed back on its wheels just past the Dumbarton rail line tracks on the eastbound side of University Avenue.

Three men were injured and transported to local hospitals in the horrific incident.

One young male patient had sustained significant injuries and was pinned under the dashboard, needing the department's Jaws of Life to remove the passenger door of the vehicle in order to safely extricate the patient. During communications with the patient, it was established that two other young males had been in the vehicle.

Holt feared the other two other occupants had been ejected during the rollover, so five firefighters fanned out to search the vegetation on both sides of the roadway with no success.

Rescue 77 personnel located a young male patient about 200 yards from the incident limping back down University Avenue toward the scene. Th third young male was found approximately 300 yards from the incident. He was accompanied by what appeared to be two other individuals who were not involved in the accident.

Battalion Chief Dan Coyle arrived on the scene and assumed command of the incident, requiring triage of direction in the major trauma scenario.

At one point, one of the crash victims condition appeared to deteriorate, becoming confused and combative. Firefighters suspected he could potentially be suffering from head trauma.

“Over the years we have had a number of vehicle accidents in this same area because the road essentially opens up on the edge of town. We don’t speculate as to cause, speed and other factors, we trust our law enforcement partners will carefully determine those facts, but by just looking at the damage to the vehicle and knowing that it’s a convertible and that it rolled over, it’s amazing that these young men even survived," Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman said.

--Images courtesy of Menlo Park Fire Protection District