MORGAN HILL
– One woman died and five people, including two children, were
injured when a suspected drunken driver drifted into oncoming
traffic on Watsonville Road south of Sycamore Drive early Sunday
morning.
MORGAN HILL – One woman died and five people, including two children, were injured when a suspected drunken driver drifted into oncoming traffic on Watsonville Road south of Sycamore Drive early Sunday morning.
The accident occurred at 12:35 a.m. when a 1990 Toyota Corolla driven by Terry Jean Ralston, 53, of Freedom drifted into the northbound lane. She had been driving south. Her auto collided with a 1998 Honda Accord driven by Jose Hernandez, 28, of San Jose.
Maria Suastegui, 62, of San Jose, who was a passenger in Hernandez’s car, went into cardiac arrest following the accident, the CHP said. Emergency personnel were able to revive her at the scene. She was air lifted to Saint Louise Regional Hospital where she died.
Hernandez and three of his passengers, including a girl, 3, and a boy, 4, and Olivertha Suastegui, 33, all from San Jose, were taken to area hospitals for treatment of minor to moderate injuries.
Ralston suffered major injuries and was taken by helicopter to Stanford Medical Center.
Ralston was arrested on felony charges for driving under the influence. The California Highway Patrol is investigating other possible charges. According to Officer Brad Voyles, the situation is complicated and will depend, largely, on the coroner.
According to Voyles, in cases where a driver has a heart attack and the car crashes, the CHP doesn’t rule it an accident. In this case, however, because the heart attack victim wasn’t driving and she suffered the attack after the crash, things are gray. He says once the autopsy is completed, the CHP will have a better idea of how they should proceed.
