Wrong-way driver killed in Antioch in 4-car crash

The California Highway Patrol is investigating what happened when a wrong-way driver was killed when they crashed into oncoming traffic in Antioch after being chased by Contra Costa County sheriff's deputies. As a result, eastbound Highway 4 near the Antioch Bridge was shut down on Wednesday morning. The CHP reported that four cars crashed at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, including a Lexus that was involved in a police pursuit with deputies for an unknown reason at some point.The Lexus driver ended up driving the wrong way to State Route 160, toward the Antioch Bridge, according to CHP Officer Daniel Gilmore. "It crashed head on," Gilmore said. "This crash led to a series of crashes."The wrong-way Lexus driver died at the scene after slamming into a Mercedes, the CHP said.The Mercedes driver was airlifted to the hospital.Then, two other cars ended up crashing into the wreck; a Honda and Dodge Durango. Two people went to the hospital, but the driver of the Honda was not hurt, the CHP said. Gilmore said that Contra Costa County sheriff's deputies were not chasing the Lexus driver at the moment it crashed.But the CHP did say that the deputies had initiated a pursuit earlier – for a reason that has not been revealed- and then called it off.The sheriff's office on Wednesday wrote on social media that deputies "terminated a pursuit" on Highway 160 after the driver crossed the divider and drove in the opposite direction.A "short time later," the sheriff's office said the crash occurred.The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office and the sheriff's office are conducting the investigation. The issue of police chases is a controversial one.Gov. Gavin Newsom and the CHP have been pushing Oakland, for example, to loosen its police chase policies to be able to pursue suspects of a wide variety of crimes, not just violent ones.Critics of these looser policies point to deadly crashes as a reason not to relax the chase rules.