Late-Night High-Speed Chase Knocks Down Power Pole in East Oakland, 6,000 Households Lose Power

An estimated 6,000 East Oakland PG&E customers were without power between 3:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. Friday morning, all because of the wreckage caused by a 125 mph chase on I-880 near Fruitvale.

The area seen above is a little worse for the wear Friday morning, all thanks to a 125-mile-per-hour hot pursuit on Interstate 880 which KTVU reports culminated in a crash that took down a power line not far from the Fruitvale BART station. California Highway Patrol officers were pursuing a suspect, who took the High Street offramp off I-880 and crashed straight into a power line, and, consequently, thousands were left without power for about three hours Friday morning.

The aftermath is seen above in footage taken just after 5 a.m. Friday morning. But the chase incident started around 3 a.m. in Hayward, with the suspect driving a Dodge Charger (the one seen above). A witness told KTVU that the driver suspect tried to escape on foot after colliding with the pole and a fence of a tow yard, but didn’t make it very far.

KPIX adds that “the impact of the crash knocked out power along 35th Ave. from just east of BART's Fruitvale Station to [the] Redwood Heights neighborhood across I-580.” That station also reports that “PG&E said nearly 6,000 customers were initially without power.”

Per KTVU, the suspect is a woman who was detained, and power was restored within a few hours. Thankfully, there were no injuries reported over the whole mess.

The California Highway Patrol did not disclose the reason for the initial chase.

Related: Video: Stolen Pickup Drives Wrong Way on I-880, Rams BART Police Van and Other Vehicles in San Leandro [SFist]

Image: Google Street View