The multi-hour backup that occurred early Sunday morning on the Bay Bridge had the effect of trapping a whole lot of drunk and otherwise intoxicated motorists and passengers after a long night of partying, stuck for what turned out to be hours shortly before they hoped they'd all be in bed. Witnesses like 34-year-old Uber driver Rami Dahud described the scene to the Chronicle saying, "Everyone was coming back from a night out in San Francisco, so there were people who were passed out drunk, close to vomiting as it was, getting sick on the bridge — it was ugly."

Dahud tells the paper in addition to seeing people going to sleep in their cars, he saw a lot of them getting out to take selfies on the bridge, peeing off the side of the bridge, and then later, sitting on their car roofs smoking pot and watching the sun rise.

Dahud also captured the moment where cars began turning around as CHP officers started letting traffic turn back and head west on the eastbound deck.

The incident began to unfold long after San Francisco's last call at 3:25 a.m. — the amount of traffic perhaps proving just how many people were still out at after-hours venues at the end of a very sunny Saturday. Two vehicles in the eastbound lanes, presumably heading home to the East Bay, got into a collision a mile west of the Oakland toll plaza that CHP officers were responding to at that time. A number of officers and Caltrans employees were on the scene helping to clean up debris and investigate the crash, with all eastbound lanes temporarily closed for what likely would have been a short time, when suddenly a red Cadillac came speeding down the shoulder toward several officers, perhaps trying to escape the traffic. When the car refused to respond to calls to stop, an officer fired multiple rounds into the car, injuring the driver.

As the Examiner reports, the driver, who has not been identified, is now in stable condition at Highland Hospital, and may end up facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon. Two passengers in the Cadillac were not hurt.

The officer involved in the shooting is not likely to face any charges, according to the CHP.

The eastbound lanes of the bridge did not open for five hours, leaving many, like the couple below, to fend for themselves, getting out of their cab and walking the whole way home to Oakland.


At least one Twitterer was so bleary-eyed he tweeted about having to watch the sunset, rather than the sunrise.


If you were one of the unlucky ones who spent the end of your Saturday night this way, I am very sorry.

#stuck #Baybridge It's 5:30am been stuck for 4 hours

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I suppose the sunrise was alright on the Bay bridge #sf #baybridge

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Previously: Bay Bridge Reopens Following Police Shooting