Stolen car collides with rideshare vehicle in South Bay, killing one passenger and injuring two others

SANTA CLARA — A 28-year-old woman is dead and a 26-year-old man in critical condition after a man driving a stolen car collided with their vehicle early Sunday.

Carol Major, 28, of Santa Clara and the 26-year-old man were passengers in a rideshare when the car was hit by a stolen 1996 Honda Accord. The rideshare driver, a 28-year-old Santa Clara resident, is also being treated at a local hospital, according to a Santa Clara Police Department news release.

Major attended UC Berkeley and worked as a technical program manager at Apple Inc., according to Facebook and LinkedIn pages in her name.

The suspect, 32-year-old Claudio Perez of San Jose, has been booked into the Santa Clara County jail on charges of murder, auto theft, driving under the influence, evading police and probation violations.

Perez received treatment at a hospital for minor injuries before he was booked into jail.

The green Honda Accord was reported stolen to the San Jose Police Department earlier this month. At 11:45 p.m. Saturday, Sunnyvale police officers found the car in a Sunnyvale parking lot and put a tire deflation device under the car’s tire.

A few hours later, around 1:15 a.m., Perez was seen getting into the driver’s seat. Sunnyvale officers tried to initiate a traffic stop but Perez “failed to yield and drove recklessly through the parking lot,” and officers didn’t initiate a pursuit “due to the reckless manner” of his driving, according to the news release.

At 1:21 a.m., a Sunnyvale officer driving north on Lawrence Expressway and came across a car accident involving the stolen car. An investigation showed the rideshare car was making a left turn from Cabrillo Avenue onto Lawrence Expressway when the suspect, driving south on Lawrence, ran a red light and broadsided the rideshare car, according to the release.

Staff writer Jason Green contributed to this report.

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