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Christopher Lee

Age : 20

Gender : Male

Race : Unknown

Date : 01/17/2021

Location : San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, near Yerba Buena Island

City : San Francisco

County : San Francisco

State : California

Agency : California Highway Patrol

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Passenger killed in police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

REASON FOR CHASE: California Highway Patrol officers attempted to stop a group of dirt-bike riders after riders drove recklessly and against traffic on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Christopher Lee subsequently became a passenger on a dirt bike whose driver fled from CHP officers.
NARRATIVE:
On 01/17/2021, 20-year-old Christopher Lee of Beaumont, Texas, was killed during a California Highway Patrol pursuit on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

During the afternoon, several hundred motorcycle, dirt-bike and all-terrain-vehicle riders traveled through Oakland and San Francisco and onto the Bay Bridge. Shortly after 5:00 p.m., CHP officers encountered a smaller group of approximately 15 dirt bikes on the bridge. According to CHP, riders turned around after encountering officers and began traveling against traffic.

The group exited the bridge into San Francisco using the Sterling Street and Fourth Street ramps, traveled through downtown San Francisco, and then entered the bridge again using the Fremont Street on-ramp, traveling east on the upper deck of the westbound bridge.

Lee was initially operating his own dirt bike. According to CHP, he crashed near the Treasure Island ramp and abandoned that motorcycle. Another rider, 20-year-old Humza Zahoor of Stockton, California, picked Lee up as a passenger on his dirt bike.

CHP officers subsequently pursued the dirt bike carrying Zahoor and Lee. Near the Yerba Buena Island portion of the bridge, Zahoor attempted to evade officers by crossing or jumping a concrete median barrier separating portions of the bridge roadway.

The dirt bike struck the barrier and Lee was thrown from the motorcycle onto the roadway. A pickup truck traveling on the bridge then struck Lee. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The San Francisco Medical Examiner's Office subsequently identified the deceased passenger as Christopher Lee, 20, of Beaumont, Texas.

CHP arrested Zahoor following the crash. He was booked into the San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of murder and other offenses arising from the fatal pursuit crash.

The 01/17/2021 San Francisco County fatality documented by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System is consistent with the independently documented death of Christopher Lee: the date, jurisdiction, Bay Bridge roadway location and single fatality correspond to the fatal collision reported by CHP and multiple contemporaneous news organizations.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.ktvu.com/news/motorcycle-passenger-dies-during-bay-bridge-biker-chaos
https://www.ktvu.com/news/felony-homicide-arrest-made-following-chaotic-bay-bridge-crash
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/stockton-man-held-on-murder-charge-in-bay-bridge-death-during-dirt-biker-mayhem/
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/injury-accident-on-bay-bridge-snarls-eastbound-sunday-evening-traffic/
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Motorcyclist-dies-after-Bay-Bridge-chase-15878795.php
https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/Man-Arrested-On-Suspicion-Of-Murder-In-Connection-15881971.php