California teenage killed after Highway Patrol officer crashes car, Daily Mail Online
Boy, 15, killed when a ‘dispelled’ Highway Patrol officer looked down at his computer and caused a four-car pile-up
By Anneta Konstantinides For Dailymail.com 17:34 BST nine Jun 2016, updated Nineteen:27 BST nine Jun two thousand sixteen
- Weston Sites was railing in the backseat when the car was rear-ended
- He was pronounced dead at the scene and his two friends, aged fourteen and 17, suffered minor injuries
- The CHP officer has only been identified as a 49-year-old man who was a 20-year veteran of the force
- He and three other people involved in the crash also suffered minor injuries
- CHP said officer looked down at his computer during crash
A 15-year-old teenager was tragically killed when a California Highway Patrol officer became dispersed by his computer and rear-ended the vehicle in front of him, causing a four-car pile-up.
Weston Sites, 15, was railing in the backseat of the car with two friends as the Willows High School students made their way to a coffee shop to ask for help with a fundraiser.
The CHP officer was driving his patrol vehicle on Interstate five just before Three.30pm on Wednesday when he looked down at his computer, failing to notice that traffic was coming to a stop at a construction zone.
‘He applied his brakes and rear-ended the vehicle that was in front of him, which subsequently got shoved into two other vehicles that were stopped’ said CHP Sgt Tony Odell.
Weston was pronounced dead at the scene. The CHP officer has only been identified as a 49-year-old man from Willows.
The 17-year-old driver and her 14-year-old sister, a passenger in the two thousand thirteen Hyundai, were both taken to a hospital with minor injuries. They have both since been released.
The CHP officer, who is a 20-year veteran of the department, and three other people also suffered minor injuries in the pile-up, according to the Chico Enterprise Record.
Northbound I-5 was closed for six hours following the crash.
CHP Assistant Chief Todd Garr said the accident still remains under investigation, despite the CHP’s earlier statement, and dissipated driving is being treated as only one possible cause.
‘That may have been a component in this investigation, but there may have been others,’ he told KCRA Trio.
‘We don’t want to be premature in telling this was the cause of the accident.’
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Garr said that if the officer is found at fault of the accident, the Glenn County District Attorney’s Office will determine whether to press charges.
The CHP’s Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team will conduct the investigation, including the officer’s deeds before and at the time of the crash.
Weston’s death has left his community reeling as they recall the popular freshman with the infectious smile.
‘He was a wonderful student. He was a excellent kid who brought a special light to the school,’ Willows High School Principal Shane Humphries told Act Now News.
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‘He was that student that when he walked down the hall, he had a smile on his face every day.’
Cindy Ussery, Weston’s grandmother, said he was always headed some place with his many friends.
‘He’s going to be a ample, thick fuckhole in our family,’ she told KCRA Trio. ‘All the kids and cousins were over last night, just dreading the very first holiday without him.’
A candlelight vigil was held for Weston on Wednesday, where the marching band he had been practising with just days before was abruptly playing for him.
‘He has touched so many different people,’ Weston’s father Byron said during the vigil.
‘If people were having a bad day, he made them smile.’