Skateboarder Who Attended El Cerrito High in "Grave" Condition After Being Hit By Car

Note: This story was updated Jan. 31 at 10:10 p.m.

An 18-year-old student who attended El Cerrito High School was severely injured about 7 p.m. last night, Monday, when a car struck him while he was riding a skateboard on Marin Avenue at Tulare Avenue, according to police and a friend of the victim.

The victim was identified by a friend at Tyler De Martini, who lives in Berkeley and attended El Cerrito High last year.

The accident was reported about 7:05 p.m., according to Berkeley police Sgt. Mary Kusmiss.

"The skateboarder was seriously injured in the collision and according to trauma physicians is in 'grave' condition,” Kusmiss said in a prepared release. He was listed in critical condition late today at Highland Hospital in Oakland.

senior Gabe Scaglione identified the victim as his friend, 18-year-old Tyler De Martini, according to Albany Patch.

Kusmiss said the driver of the car is a 54-year-old male Berkeley resident and that alcohol did not appear to be a factor in the collision.

"The driver was not arrested and there was no crime determined last night," Kusmiss said in a news update. A preliminary investigation by the Berkeley police traffic bureau indicates "that the driver of the Prius was eastbound on Marin, just making a northbound turn onto Tulare. The skateboarder was westbound on Marin when the two collided," according to Kusmiss.

Scaglione said De Martini lives in Berkeley and used to attend El Cerrito High and now is doing independent study. (Patch earlier reported that Scaglione's mother, Janet Scaglione, said De Martini is a senior at Berkeley High.) De Martini is shown among the junior class photos in the 2011 El Cerrito High yearbook.

Laila Fawzi, a junior at El Cerrito High and friend of De Martini who's pictured with him on his Facebook profile photo, said, "Tyler is one of the strongest people I know, and I have faith he will fight through his. We're rooting for you, Ty."

Scaglione said via Twitter, "He's a strong kid and has so many people praying for him."

A witness told Albany Patch that the victim was lying on the pavement bleeding profusely from a head injury. The car involved was a Prius, said the witness, Berkeley resident Matt Winkelstein.

"He was kind of all twisted up, lying there in a heap," Winkelstein said of the accident scene. The Prius had extensive damage to the windshield. "It was crunched in, and cracked all over."

It was the second severe collision involving El Cerrito High students in as many days. Early Sunday, El Cerrito High senior Jeremy Crowder, 17, was in Richmond.

Because the De Martini was 18, he was not required to wear a helmet while skateboarding, Kusmiss said.

A special police team was called in to investigate the accident.

“Due to the seriousness of the collision, BPD’s FAIT (Fatal Accident Investigation Team) was called in to take over the investigation," Kusmiss said. "The FAIT team, members of BPD’s Traffic Bureau, investigates serious and fatal collisions and have extensive training in many disciplines related to collision, diagramming and reconstruction. It is too early in the investigation of this collision investigation to determine to PCF – Primary Collision Factor which is assigned to a party and in most cases attributes fault to the party.”

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