Squabble leads to broken neck

CASTRO VALLEY — A lovers’ spat about a cell phone and a diamond ring ended with a 19-year-old Pittsburg man driving his car into a duplex and injuring five people, according to Alameda County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Scott Dudek.

Four of the victims have been treated and released, but a woman who suffered a broken neck remains hospitalized at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, Dudek said.

According to Dudek, the incident began Monday evening with an argument between a man and his boyfriend about gifts that the man was demanding back.

When the boyfriend refused to return the phone and the ring, the man got back in his Ford Fusion and pushed the boyfriend into the front part of the duplex, breaking the gas main, according to Dudek. The boyfriend suffered major leg injuries, but no broken bones, he said.

The man then headed down the 50-foot driveway toward the boyfriend’s half of the duplex. A 20-year-old woman who lives there was in the driveway with her 18-month-old son when she saw the car approaching quickly, Dudek said.

The woman scooped up the boy so he would not be run over and took the hit from the car, he said.

The mother remains hospitalized with a broken neck, but the boy only suffered minor injuries, according to Dudek.

The car then went into the living room, injuring the boyfriend’s 47-year-old mother and 15-year-old
brother, and causing extensive structural damage.

An 18-year-old female passenger in the car, who was a friend of the driver, was injured when the air bags deployed, Dudek said.

The driver wasn’t injured and tried to flee, but was arrested a short time later near BART tracks in Castro Valley, according to Dudek.