The whereabouts of a mystery woman remain unclear after she ran from officers who say she climbed over the Bay Bridge guard rail and dropped into the bay.
The woman is accused of crashing a stolen car on the bridge Wednesday morning. Police said a California Highway Patrol officer trained in mental health and crisis intervention grabbed the woman to attempt to pull her back over the railing, but after a 90-second struggle, she pulled out of the officer’s grip and fell into the water.
From there, the woman managed to get out of the water and was picked up by a dump truck driver near the toll plaza, a CHP spokesman said.
The crash was spotted by CHP officers driving west on the Bay Bridge's eastern span at about 2 a.m., CHP Officer Vu Williams said. They saw a 2014 Nissan Maxima spinning out in the eastbound lanes and turned around at Treasure Island to investigate.
Once they got there, the officers found the vehicle abandoned and saw three women standing on the bridge. The women had apparently gotten out of the car and climbed over the railing to the bridge's bicycle and pedestrian walkway.
As the CHP officers approached, one of the women climbed over the second rail on the edge of the bridge, Williams said.
Officers saw her floating until she went under the bridge and they lost sight of her. They used a dye pack to determine the direction of the current and started searching the water for her.
While officers recovered her identification card, they otherwise found no sign of her. Some witnesses reported seeing her get out of the water, Williams said.
Later Wednesday, a dump truck driver arrived at the CHP's Oakland office and told officers that he picked up the soaking-wet woman and drove her somewhere in the East Bay. His description of the woman matched the CHP officers'.
The woman who fell or jumped from the bridge is believed to have been driving the Nissan, which investigators later determined was reported stolen out of Los Angeles. The women she was with did not know her well and were questioned and released, Williams said.
CHP officers are still trying to track down the woman and are following up on the address listed on her recovered ID, but have not determined if she still lives there. Her name has not been released.
Bay City News contributed to this report.
