An early morning three-car crash Tuesday near the Bay Bridge approach, which stemmed from a police pursuit following an alleged burglary, killed one person and injured three others, and the subsequent investigation led to hours of traffic on westbound I-580 and Highway 24.

According to California Highway Patrol, per KRON4, a vehicle was traveling the wrong way on 580 near the MacArthur Maze around 4:30 am Monday when it crashed into a white utility van and a gray BMW.

The CHP noted, as NBC Bay Area reports, that this crash might have some link to a crime that took place in El Cerrito. The El Cerrito Police Department was reportedly pursuing a vehicle on I-80 westbound in connection with a burglary just before this crash occurred, per NBC, but El Cerrito Police have since declined to give details about the crime in question.

Update: As ABC 7 reports, the crime in question was a burglary at a smoke shop called Tobacco Outlet, on San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito. The owner of the shop shared video of the suspects loading loot from the store into the back of a pickup truck, and that truck was apparently the same one that caused the crash.

The El Cerrito PD said the pursuit was "terminated" just before the crash occurred, but CHP said that the vehicle that was being pursued turned around before the Bay Bridge toll plaza and tried to travel the wrong way up the 580/80 connector ramp, crashing into two oncoming vehicles.

The suspect vehicle was a utility truck, as CHP spokesperson Officer Adib Zeid tells Bay Area News Group. Two occupants in the suspect vehicle reportedly suffered major injuries, as did the driver of the utility van, and the driver of the BMW was killed.

Traffic was backed up on Highway 24 all the way to the Caldecott Tunnel as a result of the crash, and on westbound I-580 and I-80 for over three hours during the Tuesday morning commute.

All lanes were reopened as of 8 am, when the crash was finally cleared.

Photo: AC Transit/Wikimedia