The California Highway Patrol has contacted the driver of a white pickup truck who fled the scene of a fatal crash on U.S. Highway 101 in San Mateo early Sunday morning, a CHP spokesman said today.

CHP Officer Art Montiel said the driver called the CHP later that day and went to a local CHP office to be interviewed. The crash happened on southbound Highway 101 near Poplar Avenue at about 12:50 a.m., Montiel said.

The pickup truck apparently crashed into the center divider, causing it to come to a full stop in the left lane, Montiel said. There was then a chain-reaction crash that involved four vehicles that were traveling behind the truck.

A 29-year-old passenger in the back seat of a 2010 Mazda suffered major head trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene. The San Mateo County coroner's office is still trying to notify the victim's family in Argentina and has not released his name. The driver of the Mazda, a 30-year-old man from Palo Alto, was taken to Stanford Hospital with major head injuries.

The occupants of the three other vehicles involved in the crash were not injured. The CHP is still investigating why the driver of the pickup truck left the scene. No arrests have been made and the driver had not been cited as of Monday morning. It has not been determined whether drugs or alcohol played a role in the collision, according to the CHP.

Anyone who might have witnessed the crash is urged to contact CHP Officer Graham at 650-369-6261 ext. 308.

— Bay City News Service

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