An on-duty Morgan Hill police officer crashed his patrol car
into a Honda sport-utility vehicle driven by a pregnant woman from
San Jose.
An on-duty Morgan Hill police officer crashed his patrol car into a Honda sport-utility vehicle driven by a pregnant woman from San Jose.
Moderate damage was suffered to both vehicles, and minor injuries were reported by the occupants of the 1999 Honda CRV, according to California Highway Patrol officer Jaime Rios.
The accident happened west of Sobrato High School, on Burnett Avenue, about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday when many parents were exiting the campus after picking up their children from school.
The 39-year-old driver of the Honda had just picked up her 16-year-old son from the school, according to the driver’s fiance, Tony Encalade, who was not present when the accident happened.
The Honda was traveling west on Burnett Avenue when officer Max Cervantez, 32, driving a 2007 Ford Crown Victoria fully marked patrol car, attempted to make a u-turn from the eastbound lane, Rios said.
In the process of making the u-turn, Cervantez struck the front of the Honda with the front of the patrol car, Rios said.
The driver, who is four months pregnant, requested a ride to the hospital with complaints of pain to her head and back, Rios said. Her son was also taken to the hospital, by ambulance, with a swollen shut right eye – an injury that Encalade said was caused by the passenger’s-side airbag. Both were transported to Kaiser Santa Teresa hospital, Rios said.
Cervantez was uninjured in the accident, Rios said.
Both the Honda and patrol car suffered moderate front-end damage, he added.
The accident is under investigation, and Rios said it is unclear who was at fault in the accident. The CHP collision report does not indicate if the Morgan Hill patrol car had its sirens or emergency lights on, but that might not be a factor in the accident, Rios said.
“(Police) do have to obey the vehicle code, regardless if our lights are on or not,” Rios said.
He added that the road was wet, and alcohol was not a factor in the accident.
