Police ID Livermore woman killed in crash after chase involving stolen car injures 2 passengers

DANVILLE (KTVU/BCN) — Danville police have identified 19-year-old Hannah Meecham of Livermore as the driver killed in an early Sunday morning pursuit involving police that began in Danville and ended in the fatal crash that seriously injured two others. 

Police are investigating a pursuit that started early Sunday morning in Danville and ended with a fatal crash in San Ramon.

At 1:09 a.m., an officer attempted to stop a vehicle traveling on Sycamore Valley Road in Danville near the southbound on-ramp to Interstate Highway 680 after witnessing the vehicle driving recklessly, according to
police.

Police said the driver, driving a white four-door Honda, fled from the officer onto the freeway and exited onto eastbound Crow Canyon Road.

In the three-minute pursuit, police said the driver then turned around at the Iron Horse Trail crossing and turned south onto Camino Ramon.

The vehicle, traveling at a high rate of speed, then went off the roadway and struck a tree south of the intersection with Bollinger Canyon, police said.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other passengers; a 19-year-old female and a 37-year old male, both of Livermore, were transported to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek with serious injuries, according to police.

Police said the vehicle Meecham was driving when she fled police was recently stolen in Dublin, according to their investigation. 

Danville P.D. Chief Steve Simpkins talked about the decision to continue the high-speed pursuit in the 1:00 a.m. hour.

"Had this been 2 o'clock in the afternoon with a lot of cross traffic, this pursuit would have been discontinued by the supervisor,” he said. "On behalf of the Danville Police Department, our thoughts are with the family of this young woman," he added. 

The Contra Costa County Fatal Incident Protocol has been invoked because it was a fatal accident. Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office and the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office are both involved in the investigation.

No charges have been filed at this time, and the accident remains under investigation.