Two men who had gotten out of their vehicles to argue about a crash on Interstate 80 in Berkeley early Sunday morning, and were standing in traffic, were killed when a third motorist struck them, authorities report.
The Alameda County coroner’s office identified the men who were killed as Keandre Allums, 28, of San Pablo and Michael Bernardo, 46, of Hercules.
The Oakland CHP was initially alerted just after 1:35 a.m. to an argument happening between two drivers in traffic on I-80 eastbound, west of University Avenue. Minutes later, more calls began to come in about a vehicle crash with injuries at the same location.
When CHP officers got to the scene, they found a Chevrolet Malibu, a Dodge Durango and a Mini Cooper. All three vehicles were damaged and were blocking the fast lane as well as the lane next to it.
Officers also found two unresponsive men in the roadway ahead of the collision scene, both of whom had sustained fatal injuries, the CHP said.
Based on the preliminary investigation, the incident began when the drivers of the Malibu and Durango had been involved in a non-injury crash, the CHP said. Along with a female passenger, they “exited their respective vehicles, into lanes of traffic, and commenced to argue about the collision.”
As they argued, the CHP said, an oncoming driver in the Mini Cooper “quickly digressed around and avoided the collision scene but struck the two male drivers outside their vehicles. The female passenger was possibly struck by debris and was transported to the hospital for minor injuries.”
The Mini Cooper’s driver, a 50-year-old San Francisco man, remained at the scene and was cooperative with law enforcement. The CHP does not believe drugs or alcohol were factors in that collision.
Anyone involved in a vehicle collision on the freeway should move to the right shoulder or exit altogether, the CHP said in a prepared statement Sunday. If your vehicle is stuck in lanes of traffic, remain inside with your seatbelt on and call 911.
“Be extra careful if getting out of your car, especially if the crash took place on a freeway,” CHP Oakland said, adding that someone in that situation “may not be thinking logically, which could put you in danger.”
