Ambulance patient dead after car crash

A 74-year-old ambulance patient died after being involved in a crash in San Lorenzo on the way to the hospital, the Alameda County Fire Department said Tuesday. The collision, which killed Catherine Sunday of San Leandro, occurred Monday morning when the ambulance and a white sedan collided at Lewelling and Hesperian boulevards, leaving the ambulance on its left side in the middle of a crosswalk near a Walmart.

It was not immediately known if Sunday died as a result of the accident or because of the condition that required the ambulance, Fire Department spokeswoman Aisha Knowles said.

Three other occupants of the ambulance — driver Kendyl Post, 22, paramedic Garrison Feil, 25, and firefighter-paramedic Shaun Ferderer, 27, all of San Leandro — sustained minor to moderate injuries, along with the driver of the sedan, Luis Salazar Jr., 30, of Hayward, according to the Fire Department. All were treated at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley and released.

Investigators said the sedan was traveling east on Lewelling Boulevard and sped through the intersection, striking the side of the ambulance, which was heading southbound on Hesperian Boulevard with its lights and sirens operating.

Emergency workers used the Jaws of Life to yank open the rear door of the ambulance and free the occupants, Knowles said. The front end of the sedan was demolished in the impact.

Neither drugs nor alcohol were believed to be a factor in the collision, according to the California Highway Patrol.