Gilroy
– One man was arrested and another is at large following a
drunken hit-and-run collision that injured a Royal Oaks man.
Officers with the California Highway Patrol arrested Rosendo B.
Del Toro, 40, of Gilroy, after he allegedly hit a 1977 Chevrolet El
Camino with his 1999 Ford Expedition at the intersection of Day
Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard and tried to flee the scene Friday
afternoon.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – One man was arrested and another is at large following a drunken hit-and-run collision that injured a Royal Oaks man.
Officers with the California Highway Patrol arrested Rosendo B. Del Toro, 40, of Gilroy, after he allegedly hit a 1977 Chevrolet El Camino with his 1999 Ford Expedition at the intersection of Day Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard and tried to flee the scene Friday afternoon. His passenger, who is a man known only as “Garcia,” fled on foot, and is still being sought.
Del Toro was driving westbound on Day Road, approaching the Santa Teresa intersection, when he tried to pass a semi-truck, according to the CHP collision report.
The semi blocked his view of the stop sign and Del Toro entered the intersection, where Richard John Serrano was waiting in the El Camino to turn left onto Day Road.
The Expedition hit the side of the El Camino head-on, causing minor leg injuries to Serrano and badly damaging the Expedition. Del Toro fled the scene, his car smoking, and headed north on Santa Teresa, the CHP said. He turned right into Stevens Court, where he and his passenger bailed out of the car and fled on foot.
Del Toro’s blood alcohol content is not yet available, but he failed a sobriety test later conducted at the scene, said Officer Matt Ramirez.
A passer-by who witnessed the crash and saw Del Toro flee, directed CHP officers and Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office deputies toward Stevens Court.
“That’s what really helped us catch him,” Ramirez said. “He followed him and led in that direction, and he could positively identify the driver.”
Del Toro was caught in a field a short time later, and arrested on suspicion of felony hit and run, causing injury, and felony driving under the influence, causing injury. He was transported to Saint Louise Regional Hospital with a complaint of pain to his shoulder, where he was treated and released.
“The injuries he complained of were caused by him falling down in a muddy field,” Ramirez said.
Serrano, 46, sought his own medical aid.
Del Toro’s passenger, “Garcia,” can be charged with fleeing the scene of an accident, Ramirez said.
