The view from the inside. (UC Davis Police Department)

No one was injured early today (March 6) when a pickup crashed into a residence hall near the intersection of La Rue Road and Russell Boulevard at the north edge of the Davis campus. The truck went partway through the exterior wall of a bathroom, which was unoccupied at the time.

Lt. Bill Beermann said the accident occurred in wet conditions at about 2:30 a.m. when the driver lost control of the pickup while going east on Russell. Beermann said police had not completed the accident report nor determined why the driver lost control, but that this question may be answered as the investigation continues. The driver was not impaired, Beermann said.

He said the truck hit a light pole and a curb, then the back side of Thompson Hall in the Segundo housing area. Thompson Hall is adjacent to Russell just east of La Rue Road.

Student Housing and Facilities Management conducted an initial evaluation of the damage, then covered the wall. They continued their evaluation later in the morning, accompanied by a private engineer and contractor. “The engineer found no structural concerns so we were free to move forward with temporary mitigations,” said Mike Sheehan, director of Facilities Services for Student Housing and Dining Services.

By 11 a.m. the site had been cleaned up, and by end of day the damaged wall had been reinforced and covered, Sheehan said. He said the bathroom is locked pending repair.

Temporary covering went up after initial evaluation of the damage to Thompson Hall along Russell Boulevard. Subsequent evaluation later Monday morning determined there were no structural concerns. (Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis)

“Over the next few days, the campus will be working with a contractor and engineer to draw up the permanent repair and schedule for that repair,” Sheehan said.

Sheehan said the Monday accident marked the first time a vehicle had crashed into one of the Segundo North residence halls — Alder, Thompson and Miller — since they opened in 2003. All three of them sit close to La Rue and Russell, both of which have high traffic volume — and it was for that reason, Sheehan said, that the campus built the halls without any resident bedrooms on the first floors.

Each building is four stories; the first floors have lounge space and study space, laundries, community kitchens, music rooms and storage space. (There’s only one first-floor residence in Segundo North, a staff apartment on the west side of Thompson Hall.)

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