By Ashley Wright and Jesse Dungan
April 23, 2008
A woman riding in a pickup truck that had allegedly been stolen and then crashed into a tree in Golden Gate Park Monday morning died at a hospital Tuesday afternoon, San Francisco police Sgt. Steve Mannina said.
The San Francisco medical examiner’s office today identified the woman as city resident Carrie Smith, 29, investigator Thomas McDonald said.
Smith was riding in the truck’s cab between the driver, 42-year-old David Spehn, and another man, when the vehicle crashed into the tree at about 3:35 a.m. Monday following a police pursuit.
Officers were first called at about 3 a.m. to the area of Seventh Avenue and Hugo Street after a witness reported hearing glass breaking and seeing someone trying to break into a car, Mannina said.
Arriving officers found that the suspect in the break-in had already left the area and broadcasted a description of the vehicle, which witnesses said was a gray Toyota pickup truck, according to Mannina.
An off-duty officer leaving his shift at about 3:20 a.m. then saw the pickup at Fourth Avenue and Lincoln Way and notified on-duty officers, Mannina said.
By the time police arrived, the suspect vehicle had driven to Seventh Avenue near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Police attempts to stop the vehicle were unsuccessful, Mannina said.
When it attempted to turn onto Traverse Drive, the pickup failed to make the turn and crashed into a tree.
Spehn and Smith were taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Smith died at about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday. She was not expected to be charged in connection with the incident before she died, Mannina said.
Spehn remains in the hospital for treatment, but was booked in absentia on several charges including felony evasion and possession of methamphetamine, Mannina said.
The other man riding in the pickup did not receive life-threatening injuries and is not facing charges at this time, Mannina said.
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