MLK Day protest on San Mateo Bridge caused crashes, CHP says

A Martin Luther King Jr. Day protest that blocked traffic on the San Mateo Bridge during the evening commute also caused several crashes, authorities said Wednesday.

Protesters describing themselves as Stanford University students and carrying banners and a Palestinian flag were dropped off in the middle of the 7-mile span just before 5 p.m. Monday and shut down westbound traffic for more than an hour. The action was held in conjunction with several other Bay Area protests during the holiday honoring King.

The demonstration had a reverberating effect on the commute, causing several fender-benders and snarling traffic for hours even after lanes were cleared.

“One officer reported handling at least four collisions that resulted in minor injuries or property damages,” said Officer Daniel Hill of the California Highway Patrol.

Officers responded to small crashes on both sides of the bridge, but it was unclear how many vehicles were banged up.

One driver ditched a Honda Accord on the span after it was sandwiched between cars in westbound lanes during the protest, the CHP said.

The vehicle had “major front- and rear-end damage and the person ultimately abandoned it,” Hill said.

Officers arrested 68 protesters on suspicion of blocking a roadway and obstructing entry on public land, both misdemeanors. Ten of the protesters were booked into San Mateo County Jail while the others were cited and released, authorities said.

Prosecutors could bring additional charges because of the crashes.

“We have to see what happened,” said San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. “There were a lot of people very bothered about what happened here.”

Demonstrators were not immediately available for comment Wednesday.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky