Despite weather and hordes of shoppers, weekend was safe
Gilroy – Motorists passing through the Gilroy area enjoyed a safe Thanksgiving weekend, despite inclement weather at the end of the holiday period, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Inside the city limits was equally calm during the four-day holiday period, said Gilroy police Sgt. Kurt Svardal.
“We did not have any significant events, nothing huge,” he said.
Even with the outlets hosting a “Midnight Madness” sales event early Friday morning and the return of the traditional shopping frenzy of “Black Friday,” the busiest shopping day of the year, Svardal said, there were no problems.
“We did have extra officers specifically assigned to the outlets; they request and pay for them,” he said. “It was a major draw. The freeway was at a standstill, and even on Thursday night, with the Midnight Madness, the freeway was backed up in the middle of the night. So there were a lot of people out there, but we didn’t have any major incidents.”
Hollister remained quiet as well, with the exception of a high-speed chase that netted a suspected DUI driver following a 10-mile case through three counties.
Even domestic calls in Gilroy, which often spike during the holidays, remained at a “normal” level, Svardal said.
But police have no intention of resting on their laurels. As the next holiday season approaches, Gilroy will join other law enforcement agencies in the county in participating in “Avoid the 13,” the annual campaign to crack down on drunken driving and DUI-related collisions.
Collisions in general were down in the Gilroy-Hollister area, according to CHP Officer Brad Voyles.
“We had fewer crashes this year, and no fatals,” Voyles said. “It was a very minor weekend.”
From 6pm Wednesday until midnight Sunday, there were 21 crashes in the area covered by the Hollister-Gilroy CHP, six of them with injuries and two of them related to driving under the influence, he said. Typically on this weekend during each of the last five years, there have been 35 to 40 crashes, the CHP said. The department was still tabulating the number of DUI arrests at presstime.
“There’s no way, really, for us to determine why we had less crashes; of course, we hope it is that people are driving sensibly, following the rules of the road,” Voyles said. “Of course, probably one of the factors that contributed was the traffic. There were so many people out on the roads’ traveling and shopping, that drivers couldn’t go very fast.”
Except for Sean Michael Daudet.
The 21-year-old Hollister resident was arrested near Pacheco Pass on Highway 152 following a 10-mile chase during which speeds exceeded 90 mph, CHP Officer Chris Gallego said.
Deputies initially attempted to stop Daudet on Chappell Road near Kirkpatrick Drive, Gallego said. Daudet fled, Gallego said, hitting 70 mph on streets within Hollister’s city limits. The CHP joined the chase near Union Road and Southside Road.
Daudet allegedly exceeded speeds of 90 mph as he crossed into Santa Clara County, merged onto eastbound Highway 152 and led officers into Merced County, Gallego said.
Officers deployed several spike strips, bringing the pursuit to a stop near El Toro Road in the highway’s center divide, Gallego said. The CHP arrested Daudet on suspicion of recklessly evading police officers, a felony, driving under the influence, a misdemeanor, and possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor, Gallego said.
