GILROY
– Dangerous driving led to three serious crashes over the
weekend – one of them fatal – according to law-enforcement
agencies.
By MEGAN BAKKER and
PETER CROWLEY
Staff Writers
GILROY – Dangerous driving led to three serious crashes over the weekend – one of them fatal – according to law-enforcement agencies.
Emergency personnel proclaimed 23-year-old Los Banos resident Gabriel Zamora Cuevas dead at 5:02 p.m. Friday afternoon, 15 minutes after he crashed his Yamaha motorcycle on the on-ramp from state Highway 25 to northbound U.S. 101, according to the California Highway Patrol.
CHP officers said Cuevas was speeding and lost control of his motorcycle while turning onto U.S. 101, two miles south of Gilroy. The front of his motorcycle snagged on a brick planter box on the north side of the on-ramp, near the Garlic Shoppe. Cuevas was then ejected from his vehicle and crashed into the adobe wall of the store. An anonymous caller reported the accident.
Cuevas was taken to the Santa Clara County coroner’s office, where the official cause of death was listed as blunt trauma to the head and torso. He was wearing a full-face helmet.
Hecker Pass collision
Another motorcyclist suffered a broken shoulder Saturday in a collision on Hecker Pass Highway. At 3:45 p.m., the CHP reported, 22-year-old Nicholas Magnum Monroy’s Suzuki motorcycle hit a Honda Accord driven by Suzanne Lucille Rudholm, 52, of Union City, who was attempting to turn into a private driveway.
Witnesses had reported that Monroy, of San Jose, was driving recklessly prior to the accident, according to the CHP.
Monroy suffered a broken right shoulder, cuts to his hand and a swollen left ankle, according to the CHP. A CALSTAR helicopter flew him to San Jose Medical Center, where he received treatment and was discharged Sunday, according to hospital officials.
Rudholm suffered minor scrapes on her forehead, CHP officers reported.
According to the CHP, Rudholm had checked cross-traffic and had partially completed her turn before she noticed Monroy approaching on her right. Unable to stop in time, he broadsided her car and was ejected from his seat. Rudholm then temporarily lost control of her car, hit a wooden post in the driveway and broke a reflector light on her car.
No charges have been filed.
Monterey Street crash
Driver David Blanco, 36, of 175 Ronan Ave., is in jail as a result of a wreck at about 2 a.m. Saturday on Monterey Street south of Tenth Street that resulted in major injuries to three passengers and minor injury to Blanco.
After being discharged from San Jose Medical Center, Blanco was booked into the county jail on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol – a felony since passengers were injured in the crash – and on a warrant for probation violation from a past DUI conviction.
Blanco went to court Monday afternoon in San Martin for the warrant, and Judge Susan Bernardini sentenced him to 30 days in jail. He is scheduled for arraignment on the new charge Wednesday.
“We are still determining the appropriate charges to file,” Deputy District Attorney Johnny Gogo said Monday afternoon.
Gilroy police said Blanco may have been driving 80 mph and showing off by swerving side to side when he lost control of the Mazda 626, skidded more than 400 feet and crashed into a power pole in front of The Dispatch building.
A male passenger, who turned 38 Sunday, suffered a head injury in the wreck, police said. A 14-year-old Gilroy girl suffered a broken pelvis, and a 16-year-old boy from San Jose dislocated both hips. Police and prosecutors did not release the names of the passengers.
The driver was not related to any of the passengers, but police said they could not say whether any of the passengers were related to each other.
The people in the car had just come from the Jack in the Box fast food chain near the Garlic Farm travel park, police said. Police found a half-full malt liquor bottle and an open can of beer in the car but said they did not know whether any of the passengers had been drinking.
Megan Bakker is an intern with The Dispatch and can be reached at 842-6400, Ext. 277.
Peter Crowley covers public safety for The Dispatch. You can contact him at pc******@************ch.com or 847-7109.
