Antioch Hit-and-Run Leaves Woman, 24, Critical After Second Crash at Same Off-Ramp

A 24-year-old woman remains hospitalized in critical condition after a driver struck her near the eastbound Highway 4 off-ramp at Hillcrest Avenue last Friday and then fled the scene, according to Antioch police. Officers who responded to the crash around 10:31 p.m. found the woman with serious injuries but no driver anywhere near the vehicle involved.

Paramedics rushed the woman to a local hospital, where she remains, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Witnesses at the scene gave officers a description of the suspect vehicle, though police have not released those details publicly. Investigators later located what they believe is the vehicle involved, abandoned in the 2800 block of Larkspur Drive, but the male driver was already gone by the time officers arrived.

According to a summary from Maison Law citing KRON, the driver was exiting eastbound Highway 4 and ran a red light at Hillcrest Avenue and Larkspur Drive, striking the woman as she walked southbound inside the crosswalk. Preliminary information indicates that speed and alcohol appear to be factors in the crash, per the Chronicle's report, though police have not confirmed a final determination.

Traffic Alert Shut Down Nearby Roadway

The Antioch Police Department also posted a public traffic alert warning drivers to avoid northbound Hillcrest Avenue at Highway 4 while emergency crews and investigators worked the crash scene. Detectives are still working to identify the driver and are reviewing evidence gathered at the scene as the investigation continues.

This was not an isolated incident at that stretch of roadway. Just hours later, on August 22, a 33-year-old woman was killed in a separate crosswalk hit-and-run at the same Hillcrest Avenue and Highway 4 interchange, as KTVU reported. In that case, officers recovered another abandoned suspect vehicle roughly two miles away — a case Hoodline covered in a fatal crosswalk hit-and-run at the same intersection.

A Corridor With a History of Safety Complaints

The back-to-back crashes are not the first time this interchange has drawn scrutiny. Antioch's 2022 Local Roadway Safety Plan identified the intersection of Hillcrest Avenue and Highway 4 as one of the city's most frequently cited locations for intersection safety hazards and speeding complaints, according to the City of Antioch. Less than a month before these crashes, on July 28, a 42-year-old male driver was killed when his vehicle crashed into a tree on Hillcrest Avenue near Golden Bear Drive, Contra Costa News reported.

The interchange itself is a high-volume corridor by design. It was expanded through a $56.1 million infrastructure project completed in February 2017 that widened Highway 4 to eight lanes and integrated the Antioch eBART transit station east of Hillcrest Avenue, according to project details from Cole Management & Engineering.

Countywide Pedestrian Risk and Possible Charges

The cluster of crashes reflects a broader pattern across the county. Contra Costa County recorded 457 hit-and-run collisions resulting in injury or death in 2023, according to California Office of Traffic Safety data. Contra Costa Health has also reported that pedestrians and bicyclists account for four out of every 10 people killed or severely injured in traffic crashes across the county.

Under California Vehicle Code Section 20001, leaving the scene of a collision involving great bodily injury or death can be prosecuted as a felony, carrying two, three, or four years in state prison and fines up to $10,000, regardless of which driver caused the crash, according to legal analysis from Cefali. The Antioch Police Department's Traffic Unit, which investigates major injury collisions, fatal crashes, and DUI incidents, operates with four full-time motor officers and one sergeant, per the department's own description of the unit.

No arrest had been announced as of the Chronicle's report, and the driver's identity remains unknown. Whether toxicology results will confirm alcohol involvement, and whether felony hit-and-run or DUI-related charges will ultimately be filed, remain open questions as investigators continue reviewing evidence from the scene.