Bay Area Cybertruck Crash: Three College Students Tragically Identified. Three students were identified as the fatalities in a Bay Area Cybertruck crash on the day before Thanksgiving. A fourth student survived and is in the hospital; all were class of 2023 Piedmont High School grads reportedly back in the Bay Area for the holiday week.
A cellphone’s automatic collision alert was sent to the Piedmont Police Department shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday. Police said in a statement that officers were dispatched to Hampton Road and King Avenue where they found the mangled Cybertruck “fully engulfed in flames.” A passerby arrived at the scene first and assisted the only survivor out of the wreckage before the intensity of the fire prevented police from rescuing the other occupants.
On Saturday, one of the victims was named by University of Southern California as Soren Dixon. Dixon, based on LinkedIn, was an undergraduate at the biological sciences department while also a club lacrosse team member. “Soren lit up a room, made friends easily, smiled and laughed often, and had a unique ability to make everyone feel welcomed and valued,” Dixon’s family described in a statement.
Among those killed was Krysta Tsukahara, a sophomore at the Savannah College of Art and Design. According to her family, “she is known for her kind and sensitive heart, love for her family and friends, and for her incredible eye for style and design.
Jack Nelson, a sophomore at the University of Colorado, Boulder, died at the scene. “More than anything, Jack cared deeply for other people, was a loving and fiercely loyal friend, and had a strong faith he proudly shared through the cross he wore every day,” his family said in a statement.
California Highway Patrol officials are investigating the cause of the accident. It seemed the Cybertruck had jumped a curb and gotten stuck between a tree and a retraining wall, decimating the front of the vehicle, according to Piedmont police. Preliminary investigation indicated that speed was likely a factor, said Piedmont police Chief Jeremy Bowers.
