GILROY
– A 41-year-old Gilroy man died Sunday night when his pickup
truck hit a light pole in front of the ConAgra/Gilroy Foods plant
on Pacheco Pass Highway.
GILROY – A 41-year-old Gilroy man died Sunday night when his pickup truck hit a light pole in front of the ConAgra/Gilroy Foods plant on Pacheco Pass Highway.
Witnesses said Gregory Kroeger was eastbound at a high rate of speed when his Ford F-150 left the roadway for no apparent reason at about 10:40 p.m., according to city police.
Gilroy Fire Department firefighter/paramedics extricated Kroeger from the truck and later pronounced him dead.
Kroeger is the ex-brother-in-law of a Gilroy firefighter who responded to the scene from the Las Animas fire station, firefighters there confirmed this morning. The firefighter left his shift to be with the family, and the engine he works on was taken out of service.
In addition to the light pole, Kroeger’s truck hit fixed collision barricades and a mesh cyclone fence, both constructed by ConAgra to protect its buildings from vehicle crashes.
The Gilroy police Major Accident Investigation Team is expected to look further into the crash, according to Gilroy Sgt. Chuck Ellevan.
It was the only major-injury car accident of the weekend in south Santa Clara County, despite tens of thousands people driving into Gilroy Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the 26th annual Garlic Festival.
The California Highway Patrol reported three minor-injury collisions in the area over the three-day period. In two of them, people refused medical attention and said they would seek their own aid.
Three people were taken to hospitals, one by helicopter, after a two-car collision at the intersection of state Highway 25 and Bloomfield Road, in between Gilroy and Hollister, at 12:15 p.m Saturday. CHP officers reported that Budi Sastra, 33, of San Francisco, pulled out from Bloomfield in front of a Chevrolet pickup driven by Cesar Ruiz, 32, of Hollister, who was on 25. An ambulance took Sastra and one of his passengers, Huninie Ali, 32, to Saint Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy with complaints of pain. A CALSTAR air ambulance flew rear-seat passenger Soe Lam Sioe, 72, to San Jose Medical Center.
The CHP reported no South County auto wrecks on Sunday in its jurisdiction.
