Gilroy
– One man was killed and three were injured in a two-car,
alcohol-related accident in San Martin Tuesday evening.
Gilroy – One man was killed and three were injured in a two-car, alcohol-related accident in San Martin Tuesday evening.
Jose Eleaza Himenez-Perez, 33, of Morgan Hill, was killed when the Geo Tracker he was driving was broadsided by a Chevrolet pickup driven by Douglas Ray Robeson at Columbet and San Martin avenues in San Martin. Robeson was intoxicated at the time of the accident.
Himenez-Perez and his two passengers, wife Maria Barios, 21, and a 4-year-old boy who was in the back seat, were life-flighted to Valley Medical Center in San Jose. Himenez-Perez was declared dead a short time later.
Barios, who was eight-months pregnant, suffered major injuries including head trauma and internal injuries. She also was taken into surgery for an emergency cesarean section, but the infant did not survive, said Terry Mayes, public information officer for the California Highway Patrol. Barios is listed in serious condition.
The 4-year-old boy was in a child seat, and was treated for a concussion, broken clavicle and lacerations. He is in stable condition.
Barios was the only person not wearing a seatbelt, but she may not have been wearing it because of her pregnancy, Mayes said.
“I’m not sure, but I would expect so,” she said.
Robeson was taken by ambulance to San Jose Medical Center and was treated and released for a cut on his nose. He was immediately arrested for felony DUI alcohol and marijuana charges along with two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and violation of probation. He is being held without bail at the Santa Clara County Jail pending felony arraignment.
The accident occurred at about 7 p.m. Tuesday, when Robeson was driving north on Columbet Avenue at approximately 45 mph. Himenez-Perez was driving west on San Martin Avenue. As both vehicles reached the intersection, Robeson failed to stop for the posted stop sign and broadsided the left side of the Geo Tracker.
“Robeson was under the influence, and he blew the stop sign completely,” Mayes said.
The impact of the collision caused the Geo to roll over, ejecting Barios and pinning Himenez-Perez behind the steering wheel. The truck continued down the road northwest until it collided with a walnut tree. Robeson was able to get out of the truck himself, but fire personnel from the California Department of Forestry Station 1 arrived on the scene to remove the driver and the boy from the Geo before they were taken to the medical center.
