Alcohol-related injury crashes down, no fatalities for second
consecutive year
n By Lori Stuenkel Staff Writer
Gilroy – Police arrested slightly more drivers suspected of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol during their Independence Day crack-down than they did during the same period last year.
At the same time, there were fewer injury crashes involving an intoxicated driver than last year, and no fatalities in DUI-related crashes occurred this year or last.
“Despite a small increase in arrests, the decrease in injury crashes would indicate that people are getting the message about designating a driver,” said Steve Lodge, chief of the Santa Clara Police Department.
Lodge chairs the county’s Avoid the 13, a program that partners local law enforcement agencies in targeting drunken drivers during holiday periods. The Gilroy Police Department and California Highway Patrol deployed additional officers specifically to watch for suspected intoxicated drivers on local roads and highways. The four-day crackdown, which occurred in other areas of the county and state, began Friday, July 1 and ended at midnight Monday.
Police arrested 88 drivers suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in the county, up from 81 last year. GPD, which had two additional units dedicated to DUI enforcement, arrested seven allegedly intoxicated drivers, up from four last year.
One of those drivers, Jesus Banuelos, 34, of Hollister, caused an injury accident, which carries felony charges, police said. Banuelos, who does not have a driver’s license, was traveling northbound on Monterey Street in the left-hand lane and drove through the intersection at Luchessa Road, at what he said was a green light. Banuelos struck a driver, who had a green light and was already traveling through the intersection. Both cars traveled through the intersection and struck a third car that was stopped in the left-hand lane on the southbound side of the street.
Banuelos suffered a head laceration and the driver of the third car complained of pain to the back, arms, and shortness of breath, and was taken to Saint Louise Regional Hospital, police said.
Another driver was charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run for causing property damage and fleeing the scene. Juan Esteban Sanchez, 23, of 33 Sixth St., was traveling eastbound on Old Gilroy Street when he attempted to turn northbound onto Monterey Street, police said. As he did so, he drove over a raised cement island and collided with a street sign. He continued driving north and was arrested on East Sixth Street.
A third suspected drunken driver was also in possession of nitrous oxide, police said.
During the same time, police arrested five people for possession of drugs, mostly methamphetamine, four for public drunkenness, and 17 others on various other charges.
It was unknown at press time how many DUI arrests were made in the Gilroy area by the CHP.
The Avoid the 13 campaign will take place next over the four-day Labor Day weekend in early September.
