Traffic accidents involving alcohol and road rage resulted in
injuries and arrests during the weekend, according to Morgan Hill
police Cmdr. David Swing.
Morgan Hill
Traffic accidents involving alcohol and road rage resulted in injuries and arrests during the weekend, according to Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David Swing.
Early Saturday morning, a drunk driver on the wrong side of Highway 101 plowed into four or five vehicles, injuring several. Morgan Hill police responded to the scene originally because California Highway Patrol officers were tied up, but were released as soon as a CHP officer became available. Swing said the CHP handled the accident and resulting arrest.
CHP public information officers were not available for comment Monday due to the Veterans’ Day holiday.
On Sunday afternoon, Swing said, a caller reported to Morgan Hill dispatchers that a newer black Corvette struck a pole near East Dunne Avenue at Walnut Grove Drive. The 1:30 p.m. accident did not cause any damage, but may have been a part of a road rage incident, Swing said. The driver of the Corvette was not arrested, but the case will be forwarded to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office for review.
Later on Sunday, another accident sent two people to the hospital. Swing said the 3 p.m. crash also led to the arrest of driver Jesus Hernandez, 24, of Salinas.
Hernandez was driving a Honda Accord southbound on Monterey Road and did not stop for the red traffic light at the Watsonville Road intersection. The other vehicle, a Nissan SUV, was turning northbound onto Monterey Road from Watsonville Road as Hernandez came through the intersection and broadsided the Nissan.
After the collision, Hernandez and his two passengers, one of them a 13-year-old, ran westbound on Watsonville Road into a nearby field. They then headed south towards Paradise Park, Swing said, and officers found them on the trail near La Bella Court.
Hernandez was cited and released for hit and run causing injury, for allegedly resisting arrest and being an unlicensed driver.
A 60-year-old San Jose woman who was a passenger in the Nissan was taken to Kaiser Santa Teresa Hospital for treatment, and a 13-year-old was treated at Saint Louise Regional Hospital for a complaint of pain, Swing said.
Early Monday morning, a Gilroy resident was arrested after he drove into a light pole at Tennant Avenue and Vineyard Boulevard.
Armando Guizar, 49, had been drinking at StriXe Lounge in Tennant Station shopping center earlier, according to Swing. At approximately 1:45 a.m., Officer Joe Burdick saw Guizar driving a Toyota Corolla towards Hwy. 101 on Tennant Avenue. A fender of the vehicle was dangling, and the bumper was falling off, so Burdick stopped Guizar. Swing said Guizar had difficulty standing when requested by Burdick and also exhibited other signs of intoxication. He was cited and later released on suspicion of driving under the influence and for alleged hit and run.
“Fortunately, he only gave the pole a glancing blow,” Swing said. “The pole was still standing, and he was not injured.”
Swing said Burdick found 4.39 grams of marijuana in the center console of the Toyota, so Guizar was also cited for possession of marijuana.
