A woman was facing pending criminal charges Tuesday for allegedly stealing a pickup truck in San Bernardino with a toddler inside and driving the wrong way on the Foothill (210) Freeway into Claremont, where the Ford F-150 crashed into four vehicles, killing a man and injuring herself and two other people.
The crash occurred about 3:45 p.m. Monday on the eastbound 210 near Mills Avenue, the California Highway Patrol reported. Daniel Castillo, 69, of Fontana, who died at the scene, was driving one of the four vehicles involved in the collision with the carjacked Ford F-150, according to the CHP.
Of the three other drivers, one suffered moderate injuries, one suffered minor injuries, and one was unhurt, authorities said. The alleged wrong-way motorist -- Nicole Thibault, 28, of Santa Clarita -- suffered major injuries in the crash and remains hospitalized, the CHP reported.
"At this time, no criminal charges or arrest have been made due to the suspect being hospitalized ... pending further investigation," according to a CHP statement. The San Bernardino Police Department received a call about 3:25 p.m. Monday of the carjacking of a 2011 Ford F-150, with the owner's 2-year-old son inside the vehicle, at a 7-Eleven store on Highland Avenue and H Street.
Shortly after the carjacking, the suspect dropped off the youngster on Temple Street and H Street, according to the CHP. About 3:45 p.m., CHP dispatchers "received numerous calls of a wrong- way driver traveling westbound on the eastbound lanes of SR-210, within the center median shoulder," according to the CHP. "Responding CHP units attempted to get into position; however, a pursuit was never initiated. As the Ford F-150 continued traveling (the) wrong way within the center median of SR-210, for unknown reasons it veered into incoming traffic and collided with four vehicles ... east of Mills Avenue in the city of Claremont," the statement said. "It is unclear where the Ford F- 150 entered the freeway and why the suspect was driving (the) wrong way."
All eastbound lanes were closed for several hours while an investigation was conducted. Anyone with information on the case was urged to call the CHP's Baldwin Park Area office at (626) 338-1164.
