Jose Juan Pacheco Figueroa strikes utility pole, is thrown when
his horse bolts across Monterey Road
By Rachelle gines Staff Writer
Gilroy – A man riding a horse down Monterey Road was killed when the animal bolted across the street, causing the rider to strike a utility pole and knocking him off his ride, a witness said.
Across from the Sobrato Apartments Monday, a cross bearing the name Jose Juan Pacheco Figueroa was propped against the foot of the utility pole that witness Laurel Collins said the rider struck. On the dry grass in front of the cross, a formation of rocks in the shape of a cross lay surrounded by white roses and balloons.
Collins said she witnessed the accident while she was driving northbound on Monterey Road. She said she saw a brown horse with a man on it run diagonally across the street from west to east, away from Pinocchio’s Pizza Parlor. She said traffic was light, and she only noticed another car beside her own.
“The horse literally sprinted. It was running really fast,” Collins, a mother from San Jose said. “It was out of the ordinary. I’ve never seen a horse on the road.”
Collins said she noticed the rider did not appear to be panicked, although she said he was not in control of the animal. The horse was saddled, and the rider was using reins, Collins said.
That is the moment, Collins said, that she saw the horse dart quickly between two utility poles. She said Figueroa was leaning towards the left, and that his upper body crashed into the leftmost utility pole, throwing him from the animal. The horse ran over the train tracks, but was eventually caught and restrained, Collins said.
“I heard a horrible crash, like bones crushing. I knew I had to stop, and call for help,” Collins said Monday afternoon in front of the man’s small memorial.
After she pulled over, Collins said she called 911 at 8:01pm, and that she attempted to give him CPR, until other witnesses arrived. She said Figueroa lay on the dry grass at the bottom of a dirt and gravel embankment that leads upward to the railroad tracks that run parallel to the road.
Certified EMT and Gilroy resident J. R Loza said he and his friend Adam Ramos were returning from San Jose when a woman’s scream caused them to pull over to the scene of the accident where they began to administer CPR in place of Collins, along with Erick Westphal of Morgan Hill.
“In all honesty, Erick, Adam and I tried to give him the best possible chance to live. We went by the book, and we didn’t cut any corners,” Loza said. “Even though he didn’t make it, I’m still content with out efforts,” Loza said. Westphal also administered CPR to Bryan Trejo, a 5-year-old boy who died while crossing 10th Street in June.
Collins said she’s had trouble sleeping since she witnessed the accident.
“I don’t want to go to sleep or close my eyes, because when I close my eyes I see the accident and the man,” Collins said. “I wish I could have saved the man, but it was beyond my control. It was in God’s hands.”
Loza said that his medical training has prepared him how to react in situations, but that this particular incident was hard for him.
“This was probably one of the worst accidents I’ve ever seen. I’m a big guy, and I weigh 208 pounds, and I like to keep myself a little tough,” Loza said. But this … this was not pleasant.”
Behind the memorial and utility pole that Figueroa collided with, a tall votive candle with a depiction of the Virgin Mary and white roses dried from the sun marks the spot where Figueroa took his last breath, Collins said. Double II Distributors, a corn plant loomed just beneath the railroad tracks in the hot afternoon sun Monday.
“I feel so bad for his wife. I mean, my God. How terrible,” Collins said.
California vehicle code states that persons riding a horse have the same rights as anyone who operates a motor vehicle on the road, Gilroy Police Department Sgt. Jim Gillio said. However, persons riding horses are subject to all vehicle laws like using hand signals and obeying traffic lights. He added that persons can be pulled over on horses for driving under the influence, or failing to stop at a stop sign.
“Riding a horse on a road is not illegal,” Gillio said. “A horse is considered a vehicle.”
