GILROY
– Maybe the rain dampened people’s spirits, but the night of
Dec. 31, 2003 and Jan. 1, 2004 was a quiet one for public safety
personnel.
GILROY – Maybe the rain dampened people’s spirits, but the night of Dec. 31, 2003 and Jan. 1, 2004 was a quiet one for public safety personnel.
“It didn’t even seem like a New Year’s Eve,” Gilroy police Sgt. Kurt Ashley said.
“It was a quiet night,” said Capt. Art Amaro of the Gilroy Fire Department.
“We had nothing,” said county Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Doug Stevens.
The Hollister-Gilroy division of the California Highway Patrol reported the most activity on a relatively actionless night, with three drunk-driving arrests on Wednesday and four more on Thursday. Two of these on Thursday involved crashes, but no one was hurt in either collision.
There were, however, 10 non-alcohol-related crashes on Thursday, most of them related to rainfall for most of the day, according to CHP Officer Brad Voyles. There were minor injuries in two of these, but no one was hurt seriously.
Across all of California, 14 traffic deaths were reported. It is unclear how many were weather or DUI related.
How many people, if any, the Gilroy Police Department arrested for driving under the influence or alcohol or drugs was not available by press time.
As for other lawbreaking, “We had a couple of party calls regarding New Year’s Eve, and they went smoothly,” Ashley said.
The Sheriff’s Department saw only a couple of petty theft reports all day Wednesday – quieter than many an average day.
Despite the fact that some people welcomed 2004 with fireworks, there were no fire calls in Gilroy or in the surrounding area, according to city and California Department of Forestry fire officials.
