Two men were trapped in a car and needed to be extricated by
firefighters using the Jaws of Life after a late night crash in
north Gilroy that likely involved alcohol and high speeds, police
said.
Have a picture of the crash? Please send it to ed****@****ic.com.
Two men were trapped in a car and needed to be extricated by firefighters using the Jaws of Life after a late night crash in north Gilroy that likely involved alcohol and high speeds, police said.
About 1:49 a.m. Friday, police received multiple calls reporting a crash involving parked cars outside 857 Welburn Ave., near Parish Way – about half way between Kern and Wren avenues – police said. At that point, there is a slight S-curve in the road, which is wide enough to fit at least six cars from curb to curb. An officer responded within one minute and found two men inside who did not respond to the officer and who were trapped inside, police said.
Police called the Gilroy Fire Department, and firefighters used extrication tools to remove the two men from the car, police said. Both men were in “serious condition” at the scene of the accident and both were taken to San Jose Regional Hospital and Valley Medical Center – one by helicopter and the other by an ambulance. A 911 dispatcher said late Friday morning that officials at both hospitals refused to report the status of the two patients to anyone but family. The two men’s identities remain undisclosed.
Police on the graveyard shift who responded to the pre-dawn crash clocked out this morning before finalizing their reports, so many details of the crash remained undisclosed as of late Friday morning, according to a 911 dispatcher.
While police do not expect to definitively pinpoint the cause of the accident for a few days, “preliminary investigation indicates that speed and alcohol are potential factors,” police said. A brief press release also called the crash “senseless.”
“You have a solo vehicle driving in the early morning hours on a big, wide road and it hit a bunch of parked cars,” Sgt. John Sheedy said Friday. “It’s not too hard to figure out who’s fault it is, but what’s the reason – we don’t know yet.”
Entering Welburn Avenue from Kern Avenue to the west, the closest posted speed limit sign reads 35 mph. On the east side of the S-curve on Welburn Avenue, the speed limit is 30 mph, just west of Wren Avenue.
The bent, gnarled metal stub that used to be a mailbox post outside 857 Welburn Ave. suggested the vehicle came from Kern Avenue and smashed into at least three cars parked on the street. Two vehicles included a Honda SUV, smashed from behind, and a Honda Civic sedan with a crushed front hood. Both sat in the driveway outside 857 Welburn Ave. Broken glass littered the property and road, and investigators’ orange spray paint traced the progress of the accident from the street to the front yards.
