East Bay pursuit ends with man dead

A Concord man died Wednesday following a chase by Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office deputies that the agency said ended with the man leaping to his death from a freeway overpass.

The Sheriff’s Office, in a statement from spokesman Jimmy Lee, identified the dead man as 31-year-old Kentreal Irving and said he died at the scene. According to Lee, Irving tried to speed away from a deputy who tried to pull him over and then tried to run away after crashing the car.

Irving jumped from an overpass in the area of state Highway 4 and Highway 242, according to Lee.

It all began about 8:30 p.m. when deputies from the Sheriff Office’s Muir Station responded to a report of a hit-and-run collision in Bay Point, Lee said. Deputies were called to help the California Highway Patrol find the vehicle involved in the hitand-run and saw a white Toyota Prius driving erratically, Lee said.

One deputy tried to pull over the Prius in the area of

Willow Pass Road and Weldon Street in Bay Point, but according to Lee, the Prius sped off. Lee said the deputy pursued the Prius through city streets in Concord, as well as on Highway 242 and Highway 4.

The Prius crashed into a guardrail at the interchange from eastbound Highway 242 onto westbound Highway 4, Lee said.

Video from after the crash showed a white Toyota Prius being towed away from the on-ramp. Crime scene tape in the embankment underneath Highway 4 also extended to a fence adjacent to an apparent homeless encampment on Arnold Industrial Way.

Deputies worked on Irving, along with first responders, administering CPR and other first aid, Lee said.

The connector ramp from Highway 242 to Highway 4 remained closed from 8:50 p.m. to just before 5 a.m. Thursday morning, the CHP said. The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office, along with the CHP, are investigating the incident along with the sheriff’s office.