A woman was killed in a chain-reaction crash on Pacific Coast Highway that involved an SUV driven by Olympian and reality star Bruce Jenner. Kate Larsen reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015.
Olympian and TV personality Bruce Jenner was behind the wheel of an SUV involved in a chain-reaction crash on Pacific Coast Highway on Saturday that left a woman dead, officials said.
The four-vehicle crash began about 12:15 p.m. in Malibu when a Toyota Prius slowed or stopped in traffic and was struck from behind by a white Lexus sedan, LA County Sheriff's Sgt. Philip Brooks said, noting that traffic on the northbound side was not moving very quickly.
Jenner, driving a Cadillac SUV pulling a dune buggy, then rear-ended the Lexus, sandwiching the Lexus between his SUV and the Prius, Brooks said. The Lexus then spun or veered into the quickly-moving southbound lane of PCH, where it was struck head-on by a Hummer, he said.
The driver of the Lexus, a woman, died. A family of five inside the Hummer was taken to the hospital out of precaution, officials said.
At about 6:45 p.m., a suspected drunken driver drove into a restaurant parking lot and then through the barricade around the crash scene and crashed into the wreckage, deputies said.
The incident did not compromise the crash scene because measurements had already been taken, officials said. The 44-year-old driver was detained on suspicion of DUI.
Regarding the earlier crash, Brooks said he did not know why the Prius stopped or slowed in the first place. The sheriff's department said it planned to review cellphone records to see if anyone was on the phone before or during the crash.
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Jenner was not hurt in the crash. He was cooperative with deputies, passing a field sobriety test and offering to give a blood sample, Brooks said.
Deputies said there was "no evidence" Jenner was being chased by paparazzi.
"It's unlikely due to the fact that there was traffic and other cars stopped, so that wouldn't make a whole lot of sense, but it's always possible," Brooks said.
Jenner reportedly told deputies that he was being followed by paparazzi on PCH "like always" but that he was not trying to get away from them, an LASD Sgt. told NBC4.
Photos from the scene showed a wrecked white Lexus facing a black Hummer with a smashed front end.
PCH was closed between Malibu Canyon and Corral Canyon roads during the investigation. Lanes reopened by about 9:20 p.m.
Authorities did not give out information about other the victims of the crash and said five were hurt.
Officials first said four cars were involved, then changed to only three. Deputies later clarified a final number of four vehicles involved in the crash.
Kevin LaBeach and Kate Larsen contributed to this report.
