A woman who was injured after an erratic vehicle ran her off the road and sent her car careening into a ravine, is offering a reward for information about the suspect’s identity.
Michelle Simmons, the driver of the victim vehicle, is offering a $1,500 cash reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the hit-and-run suspect.
Simmons, a resident of the northwest unincorporated Gilroy area, was driving her Honda S2000 two-seat convertible north on Watsonville Road about 5:30 p.m. Nov. 29, she said. As she rounded a blind curve about half a mile north of Highway 152, an unknown vehicle approached from the south, “completely in our lane.”
Simmons had to swerve to the right to avoid hitting the car head-on, and the vehicle clipped the front side of her car hard enough to send the Honda spinning off the road. Her car hit a telephone pole and snapped it in half, she said, and the car rolled into a roadside ravine on the east side of Watsonville Road.
The suspect vehicle continued traveling south, Simmons said.
Simmons was able to climb out of the driver’s-side window and walk up the ravine, but she suffered an injury to her left leg and burns to her face. Her passenger suffered a broken back. Both occupants suffered whiplash and continuing back problems, Simmons said.
The California Highway Patrol responded and shut down the road for several hours, Simmons said.
After she climbed back up to the road, Simmons spoke to some witnesses who had stopped. They reported the vehicle that hit her and kept driving looked like a white Mitsubishi Montero, Simmons said. She added the suspect vehicle might be a “light-colored truck or SUV” and it might have visible front-end driver-side damage.
“Until you’re actually involved in (a hit and run), I don’t think you realize how surreal it is,” Simmons said.
Anyone with information can contact Simmons directly at (408) 612-7373, or by email at le***********@gm***.com.
The CHP can also be contacted at (408) 834-2324. The CHP’s case number for the incident is 11-11-0098.
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