A Sunnyvale man died after an out-of-control Jeep hit him while
he was gardening in north Morgan Hill, police said.
A Sunnyvale man died after an out-of-control Jeep hit him while he was gardening in north Morgan Hill, police said.
Salvador Pedraza, 57, an employee of the Nueva Vista assisted living facility on Hale Avenue, was taken by helicopter to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center shortly after the accident Wednesday morning. He died at the hospital, according to Morgan Hill police Sgt. Shane Palsgrove.
Emergency dispatchers received a call about 9:30 a.m. reporting an erratic driver in a gray 1997 Jeep Cherokee “swerving all over the road,” Capt. Joe Sampson said. The Jeep was traveling southbound on Hale Avenue.
Moments later police received another call reporting an accident near the intersection of Hale Avenue and Llagas Road, Sampson said. That accident involved a Jeep matching the description of the erratic vehicle reported earlier.
The Jeep crashed off the west side of Hale Avenue, and ran into a drainage ditch just south of Llagas Road, Palsgrove added. The vehicle sheared a utility pole that dangled above the ground by the attached wires after the impact. PG&E was called to the scene to make repairs.
The vehicle also hit Pedraza who was landscaping in a yard beside the road at the Nueva Vista community, Sampson said.
The driver, Joseph Jaghab, 65 of San Carlos, told police he was coming from a hospital in San Jose with an unrelated medical issue, Sampson said. The driver seemed “disoriented” after the crash. Police do not think alcohol or illicit drugs played a role in the accident, but are still investigating to determine if the driver suffered an urgent medical condition that caused him to drive erratically.
Jaghab suffered moderate injuries and was taken to San Jose Regional Hospital by ambulance, police said. His condition was listed as “stable” as of Thursday morning.
