5 Dead On East Bay Roads In 29 Hours

EAST BAY — The Christmas holiday was a nightmare for several families as a result of three separate East Bay traffic crashes that claimed a total of 5 lives. The wrecks happened over the course of 29 hours, first in Antioch on Christmas Eve, followed by Berkeley early Christmas morning, and finally in Pleasanton on Christmas night.

The fatal crash in Antioch was reported at 5:25 p.m. Tuesday at the intersection of Hillcrest Avenue and Golden Bear Drive. The Contra Costa County Sheriff-Coroner's Office has identified the victim as 36-year-old Ahkeen Carter, who died at the scene. Carter's vehicle hit a tree at a high rate of speed.

The Berkeley crash happened at 5:22 a.m. on Wednesday, on Interstate Highway 80 in Berkeley. The victim's name has not yet been released.

The Pleasanton crash happened on Foothill Road shortly before 10 p.m. Three teens were killed instantly when their vehicle hit a power pole, flipped on its side and slammed roof-first into a tree. Two other people in the vehicle were taken to a hospital with critical injuries. The names of the teens who died have been released by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office Coroner's Bureau. They were Javier Ramirez and twin brothers Mark Urista and Michael Urista, all age 16.

Anyone with information on any of the crashes is encouraged to call the California Highway Patrol.