Gilroy
– One man was arrested for felony drunk driving after weaving
through downtown Morgan Hill and causing a four-car crash at the
intersection of Monterey Road and Fitzgerald Avenue.
One minor injury was reported by the California Highway Patrol,
although it is unclear who was injured.
Gilroy – One man was arrested for felony drunk driving after weaving through downtown Morgan Hill and causing a four-car crash at the intersection of Monterey Road and Fitzgerald Avenue.
One minor injury was reported by the California Highway Patrol, although it is unclear who was injured.
The 18-year-old man arrested said his name was Mauricio Chirez, but his real name may be Raul Jiminez. The man is booked in county jail under that name, and his fingerprints match those of Jiminez, according to CHP Officer Brad Voyles.
Jiminez was swerving as he drove south on Monterey Road from Morgan Hill toward Gilroy about 4:24pm, witnesses told the CHP. In the back of his 1982 Dodge Ram pick-up truck, under a hard-top bed cover, the driver had two ice cream carts, one a push-cart and the second attached to a bicycle.
As Jiminez approached the intersection of Monterey Road and Fitzgerald Avenue to the east and Masten Avenue to the west, he ran the red light as traffic from Fitzgerald began to move west through the intersection.
Traveling at the 50 mph speed limit, Jiminez struck a 2000 Nissan Xterra on the front passenger side, pushing it into a 1996 Chevy pick-up that was waiting to cross Monterey heading west, according to the CHP. That pick-up struck the Ford Explorer behind it, causing minor damage.
Pat DelBene, a Gilroy resident who was driving the Xterra, said she was miraculously unhurt.
“I am really, absolutely ecstatic about that,” she said.
Her sport utility vehicle, on the other hand, was not so fortunate. She expects it will be totaled.
DelBene said she always waits behind the railroad tracks at that intersection – although there is room for one car to cross them – and was the first driver in line.
“The light had turned green and I started to proceed across the railroad tracks and into Monterey Road and really did not see that oncoming vehicle until a second or two until he hit me,” DelBene said.
After her Xterra struck the Chevy pick-up driven by Francisco Araujo of Watsonville, which struck the Ford Explorer behind it, DelBene said a good Samaritan stopped the 18-year-old drunk driver.
The man told DelBene he had seen Jiminez swerving down Monterey Road and thought he might try to drive away after causing the crash. He parked his car just in front of Jiminez’s Dodge Ram to prevent him from leaving and took the keys from the ignition, witnesses said.
“He said, ‘I just do not want him to drive anywhere else’,” DelBene said.
DelBene said she rarely drives through that intersection because she both lives and works in Gilroy.
“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” she said.
She also just had her car extensively serviced and was “feeling pretty good” on her way home from a doctor’s visit. DelBene was thankful to those who stopped after seeing the crash, particularly a young man who offered to stay with her until help arrived.
“I was totally in shock, and a lot of people were asking if I was OK,” she said. “I feel really good about the people in this neighborhood checking to see if I was OK.”
The man had one passenger in his truck, Eleugrigio Domingez, 45, who was reported to be passed out after the crash, but uninjured.
Staff Photographer Chris Riley contributed to this report.
