A skateboarder was sent to Highland Hospital on Monday night after receiving "pretty significant injuries" resulting from a crash at Marin and Tulare avenues, authorities said.
As of 1:40 a.m., the Berkeley Police Department had declined to release many details of the accident.
Berkeley Police Lt. Randolph Files confirmed that there was a pending investigation into an accident on Marin involving a skateboarder and a vehicle, but would not share other aspects of the crash.
Files also would not release the age of the victim.
One reader sent an email about the accident to Albany Patch at 7:40 p.m., describing it as "nasty looking," with several police cars, at least one vehicle involved and debris in the roadway.
As of 9:54 p.m., he said police were still on the scene and had blocked off Marin between Ventura and Tulare avenues.
Another local resident was one of the first to arrive after the accident happened.
Berkeley resident Matt Winkelstein said he was on his way to the grocery store when he came across the Prius stopped in the intersection of Marin and Tulare with its lights on, and someone lying in the road.
He stopped to see if he could help. He saw the Prius driver outside the car, and the victim, who appeared to be 13-15 years old, lying on the ground bleeding profusely from a head injury.
"I tried to help him, holding his arm and saying, 'You're going to be OK,'" said Winkelstein. "He seemed to be fading more than coming around."
The victim was breathing but did not respond to questions, said Winkelstein.
"He was kind of all twisted up, lying there in a heap," he said. The Prius had extensive damage to the windshield. "It was crunched in, and cracked all over."
Winkelstein said the intersection is "quite dark." A number of neighbors came out to help. One brought out a blanket, he added. Police arrived "very quickly."
Rescue workers cut off the victim's shirt, and rolled him onto a stretcher before taking him away for medical care.
"I really hope he made it," said Winkelstein. "My guess is that it could have gone either way. There was a lot of blood and he was in bad shape."
Berkeley Fire Department, Station 4, also responded to the accident.
According to the Fire Department, the victim's injuries were "pretty significant"; he was taken to Highland Hospital in one of Berkeley's paramedic ambulances.
(A nursing supervisor could not be reached at Highland Hospital; Patch has requested information from the hospital spokeswoman.)
Winkelstein said he overheard the Prius driver say something to the effect of "He came out of nowhere," about the skateboarder. The driver appeared to be in his 50s and was well-dressed. He was trying to call 911 as Winkelstein pulled up.
Albany Police said they responded to the scene to help with traffic control, but were otherwise not involved, as the incident took place in Berkeley.
Francois Nguyen, who lives nearby, said, in an email to Albany Patch, that the area can be "rather dangerous" to walk in at night.
"We make sure we have a flashlight to make sure cars slow down," he said. "My advice: Carry a flash light, wear light colors, wave and make eye contact with the drivers."
Albany Patch has requested more information from the Berkeley Police Department, and we will update this story as more details become available.
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If there's something in this article you think , or if something else is amiss, call editor Emilie Raguso at 510-459-8325 or email at albany@patch.com.
