More than seven months after a fatal collision killed a 17-year-old Saugus teen, CHP officials have yet to release the report on what happened.
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Back in August, hundreds came to the memorial held for Jennifer Stift, a popular, well-liked senior expected to graduate this spring.
Stift was jogging westbound across Golden Valley Road around 8:25 p.m. Aug. 18, when she was struck by a 1989 Toyota Celica heading southbound driven by a 17-year-old former Saugus High student.
“Everything has to be examined completely,” said Officer John Lutz in a previous interview, “the car, the roadway conditions and, of course, the people involved.
A Public Records Act request for the report was still pending the completion of the investigation from a Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team, Lutz said. Those investigators are considered experts at examining collisions.
“The objective of the MAIT Program is to provide CHP with the means to conduct in-depth investigations and analyses of major traffic collisions throughout the state,” according to a CHP website. “Investigations include the reconstruction of an incident and a study of the factors that may have contributed to the incident.”
The name of the driver, who was a juvenile at the time of the crash and has not been arrested, is not being released.
Drugs and alcohol do not appear to be a factor in the crash, according to officials. Speed is not suspected as a factor in the crash, according to Sgt. Reyes of the California Highway Patrol, although all aspects of the crash are being investigated.
After the collision, the driver acted in accordance with the law, officials said.
“(The driver) protected the scene as best he could from anything happening,” Reyes said, of the Golden Valley Road collision. “He did the right thing — he stayed and made himself available.”
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