Police and fire respond to a fatal car crash on University Avenue in East Palo Alto on May 23, 2022. Photo by Sue Dremann.

A car going at a high speed crashed and split into two pieces on University Avenue in East Palo Alto on Monday night, according to witnesses and police. The driver died at the scene.

Witnesses said the driver was heading west on University Avenue and had just past the Bay Road intersection at approximately 8 p.m. when he attempted to swerve around another car and struck the median curb and spun around, striking a tree and a metal pole.

The impact caused the car to split in half. One portion landed on its side against another tree in the median while the other portion of the car sheared off into the eastbound lane. Shattered glass and car parts were scattered across the roadway and into the driveway of a nearby strip mall where the PAL Market is located in the 2300 block of University Avenue.

A car is sheared in half after striking a tree on University Avenue in East Palo Alto on Monday night, killing the driver. Photo by Sue Dremann.

The San Mateo County Coroner’s Office on Tuesday identified the driver as Jesus Alejandro Belmonte Castro Jr., 29, of East Palo Alto.

Multiple Menlo Park Fire Protection District units and police responded to the scene. East Palo Alto police closed off University Avenue in both directions between Runnymede Street and Bay Road. It reopened after midnight.

Source: https://www.almanacnews.com/news/2022/05/24/driver-killed-in-high-speed-crash-on-university-avenue