Berkeley Police Ask Public's Assistance

As Berkeley police continue to probe the cause of Friday's fatal solo crash, witnesses who saw or heard the deadly collision at California Street and Allston Way are being asked to come forward. 

What police do know is that a Cadillac was travelling north on California at a high rate of speed shortly after 1:10 a.m. when the driver lost control and slammed into a tree on Allston Way, killing Milanca Lopez, 22, and sending and Lopez's young son Xavier and the driver to local trauma units with serious injuries. Both remain hospitalized.

The car was crumpled so badly that all three victims had to be extricated by police and firefighters. The family, said to be overwhelmed, has asked that the child's condition not be publicly divulged.

Preliminary evidence suggests the car first struck a roundabout in the intersection, then hit the tree, said Sgt. Mary Kusmiss.

But Kusmiss cautioned the community not to make assumptions about the factors that contributed to the crash.

“Impairment of a driver involved in a fatal collision of any sort is always explored as part of the investigation," she wrote in an email message.

“With an investigation that is so important and sensitive on many levels ... (the department) wants to be as accurate as possible in terms of all the dynamics that led to the vehicle colliding with the tree," Kusmiss said. "This may take some time.”  

Lopez, a single mother, had just graduated from UC Berkeley and had been planning to enter a master's program at UCLA.

A memorial Facebook page showing Lopez and her son, each sporting a cap and gown, has drawn more than 200 followers.

"She was a great young mom and the prove is the wonderful child that you are," a former teacher wrote in a post directed at Xavier.

Residents who may have witnessed "any part of this collision" are asked to call the Berkeley Police Department Traffic and Parking Bureau at 510-981-5980 and leave a name and contact number.