MALIBU, Calif. — Gender-bender reality-TV star Bruce Jenner rear-ended a car Saturday, causing an accident that killed a woman motorist.
Seven other people were injured in the accident, which happened shortly after noon on the Pacific Coast Highway near its intersection with Corral Canyon Road.
Jenner’s dark blue Cadillac Escalade was towing a dune buggy in a trailer when he rear-ended a white Lexus sedan being driven by an elderly woman.
The Lexus spun into oncoming traffic and smashed head-on into a black Hummer. The impact of the horrifying collision killed the woman, sources said. The victim was identified as 69-year-old widow Kim Howe, of nearby Calabasas, the Daily Mail reported on Sunday.
Officers are investigating why the Lexus stopped or slowed in front of Jenner. They said its driver may have slowed because of the traffic signal at the nearby intersection.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s investigators plan to get search warrants to pull Jenner’s cell phone and records, The Los Angeles Times and TMZ reported on Sunday, to see if he might have been texting just before the fatal crash.
Texting while driving in illegal in California and the celebrity gossip site published pictures of Jenner moments before impact. He appeared to be holding something in his left hand at chest level – but that object was obscured by the cars’ side-view mirror.
Just before the crash, five paparazzi were following Jenner’s car.
Sheriff’s officers denied reports that the photographers were chasing Jenner, and said the former Olympic gold medalist had been taking no evasive action to avoid them.
Moments after the crash, Jenner, wearing a black baseball cap, a blue shirt and loose, baggy pants, was photographed as he peered into the Lexus. Its driver was slumped across the front seat amid crumpled air bags.
Witnesses said the woman was traveling with a young boy, who was seen crying at the scene, near Corral Canyon Road.
The Sheriff’s Department has opened a vehicular manslaughter investigation that will focus on all the surviving drivers, sources told CNN.
Motorist Keoni Picerno, 44, told The Post he was 10 car lengths ahead of the crash and made a U-turn once he realized what had happened.
Jenner, 65, did not appear injured. “He was up walking around, and he returned to his car once he realized the severity of the accident,” Picerno told The Post.
Jenner lives about two miles from the scene. Another witness said Jenner texted his son, Brody, who showed up with his girlfriend as cops questioned his father.
The Olympic gold medalist passed a field sobriety test that required him to walk a straight line and touch his nose. He also submitted a blood sample.
“He did not appear intoxicated or under the influence of anything,” said Sgt. Philip Brooks of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The survivors’ injuries ranged from slight to moderate, sources said. A rescue helicopter took one victim to a hospital.
Three children were passengers in the Hummer, including one who is a month old. They were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
Jenner’s trailor may have been a factor. “You have think all that weight from the [Jenner] SUV and the trailer — it’s going to give quite a push when it hits from the rear,” Brooks said.
“The paparazzi were following him but we have no indication he was being chased. Being a celebrity, he is used to that,” the sergeant said.
Another sheriff’s officer said that as of Saturday evening, Jenner had not been arrested or charged with anything.
Jenner is in the midst of a sex-change transition, which he’ll discuss in May with ABC News’ Diane Sawyer.
He’s had roadside run-ins with paparazzi before.
On a 2013 airing of the TV show “Keeping Up With The Kardashians,” Jenner and daughter Kylie were shown being chased by paparazzi.
“It drives me nuts,” Jenner said. “I don’t get mad very often but these guys are really ticking me off. I don’t want them following my daughter. That’s just dangerous.”
Top photo by INFPhoto.com
Additional reporting by Amber Jamieson in New York.