GILROY
– A Gilroy man was drunk and driving fast and recklessly with
three passengers when he crashed into a power pole early Saturday
morning, seriously injuring three passengers – two of them
juveniles, according to city police.
GILROY – A Gilroy man was drunk and driving fast and recklessly with three passengers when he crashed into a power pole early Saturday morning, seriously injuring three passengers – two of them juveniles, according to city police.
Police found a half-full beer bottle and a can of beer in the car and arrested driver David Castillo Blanco, 36, of 175 Ronan Ave., on suspicion of felony driving under the influence of alcohol. Blanco was also wanted on an outstanding warrant for a previous DUI charge.
“He started showing off,” police Sgt. Chad Gallacinao said of Blanco. “He was traveling at a high rate of speed. There were some estimates of 80 mph. He started to swerve the car back and forth and lost control.”
It was about 2 a.m. Saturday, when the Mazda 626 spun out and crashed rear-end-first into the power pole on northbound Monterey Street south of Tenth Street, in front of The Dispatch offices.
The front-seat passenger, an adult male, sustained a head injury and bruises and was taken by ground ambulance to San Jose Medical Center.
CALSTAR helicopters came to the scene from Gilroy and Salinas to transport Blanco, who had what police described as minor injuries, and the two back-seat passengers. Police said one of them, a 16-year-old male, had both hips dislocated. The other, a 14-year-old girl, suffered a broken pelvis.
Police did not release the names of the passengers. The accident was not related to Friday night’s graduation, police said.
The rear driver’s side of the car had a deep indentation where it hit the power pole.
Among a handful of bystanders at the accident scene, several said they heard the crash.
“It was going so fast,” said Brittany Shutt, 25, who lives across the street. She didn’t see the wreck, she said, but she heard the engine racing from a long way off, louder, louder – “Then it just stopped.” Then she heard a scream, “Somebody help! Somebody help!”
Peter Crowley covers public safety for The Dispatch. You can reach him at pc******@gi************.com or 847-7109.
