GILROY
– One pedestrian and one motorist were killed in separate
accidents on South County roads in what the California Highway
Patrol Monday called a
”
busy
”
and
”
tragic
”
weekend.
GILROY – One pedestrian and one motorist were killed in separate accidents on South County roads in what the California Highway Patrol Monday called a “busy” and “tragic” weekend.
Joachim F. Huelsse, 60, was found dead Saturday morning 50 feet from his vehicle that veered off Bolsa Road and into a creek bed late Friday night.
Huelsse was traveling south on Bolsa, between Highway 25 and the Pacheco Pass, approaching Bloomfield Road. The CHP does not know why Huelsse lost control of his vehicle before driving into a tree and vegetation near the creek bed.
Huelsse may have suffered a heart attack, CHP spokesperson Brad Voyles said.
“The responding officers don’t think he was thrown form the vehicle. They think he got out of his car for help, but died before getting very far,” Voyles said.
Huelsse died less than 100 yards from his Bolsa Road home. His accident happened before 11:50 p.m. Friday. Rescue personnel did not find his body until 8 a.m. the next day.
Another fatality happened Saturday around 9:40 p.m., when a pedestrian was run over while walking in the middle of a Pacheco Pass lane. An hour earlier, the pedestrian drove his vehicle off the road and through a pasture fence for unknown reasons.
The 27-year-old man, whose identity could not be released Monday since next of kin had not yet been notified, was apparently intoxicated, the CHP said. The fatal accident occurred on Pacheco Pass near Bell Station, eight miles east of Casa de Fruta. CHP did not yet determine if the victim was from Salinas or Merced.
Jose Mercado, a 47-year-old from Fresno, was the motorist who hit the victim. Mercado, who drove a 1985 Honda Accord, said in the CHP report he was driving 60 mph – 5 mph under the speed limit.
“The case is under investigation,” Voyles said. “It’s against the law to be walking in the roadway, but we have a situation where one driver avoids him and calls 9-1-1, and another driver fails to see him in time.”
Voyles said the law protects drivers that hit a person or an animal in the roadway, but only when the person or animal jumps directly in front of them.
In two other South County accidents, CHP is looking for two hit and run suspects.
An eastbound Pacheco Pass driver caused a three-car accident Sunday at 12:25 p.m. when he or she swerved into oncoming traffic. The accident occurred just west of Lovers Lane, 10 miles east of Gilroy.
The red pickup truck went into the wrong lane for unknown reasons. Drivers and passengers in the three vehicles complained of pain.
The other hit and run happened at 9 p.m. Friday when the driver of a black pickup truck made a left turn from Masten Road onto a Highway 101 on-ramp in front of oncoming traffic.
Gilroyan Michelle Vance, 36, was driving her Chevy Suburban west on Masten when she was cut off. Vance lost control of the vehicle and went off the road and down an embankment. Vance did not suffer any major injuries but complained of pain.
Anyone with information about the hit and runs should call CHP at 848-2324.
