A 4-year-old Gilroy boy was killed Sunday evening in south San Jose after a drunken driver crashed into his father’s broken down truck on the side of the highway.
A 4-year-old Gilroy boy was killed Sunday evening in south San Jose after a drunken driver crashed into his father’s broken down truck on the side of the highway.
Paramedics life-flighted Jose Cortez-Diaz, who sustained major wounds to his head, to Valley Medical Center, but the little boy’s injuries were too severe and he was pronounced dead less than two hours after the crash. Police arrested James Francis Lee, 44, of Gilroy, whose blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit, at the scene and took him into custody after he was treated for minor cuts, said California Highway Patrol Officer Jaime Rios.
At 5:53 p.m. Sunday, the boy’s 37-year-old father was driving his 2001 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck southbound on U.S. 101 when he started having car trouble and pulled over onto the west shoulder, just south of the Metcalf Road overcrossing, Rios said.
The boy’s mother and 12-year-old sister got out of the truck, and as the father was unbuckling his son from the truck, they were hit.
“As he’s pulling him out, (Lee) struck them from behind,” Rios said.
The impact caused a toolbox in the S-10’s bed to fly through the truck’s rear window and hit the boy, Rios said. Paramedics used the Jaws of Life to extricate Cortez-Diaz from the wreck. He was still breathing at the scene of the crash but was pronounced deceased at the hospital, Rios said.
Lee, who was driving a 1989 Ford F250 truck from a heavy metal concert in Mountain View back to his home in Gilroy, was allegedly intoxicated and veered off the road, colliding with the family’s truck at about 65 or 70 mph, Rios said. The S-10 was “almost unrecognizable” after the crash and the F250 rolled onto its roof, he said.
Lee was taken to San Jose Regional Hospital, where he was treated for cuts to his left arm before being booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for driving under the influence and gross vehicular manslaughter while driving under the influence. He is currently in custody waiting for a judge to set bail, Rios said.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department also responded to the scene of the crash with a helicopter to assist with traffic and medical aid, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Rick Sung. Their helicopter was patrolling in the area and was only about half a mile away when they heard radio traffic about the crash. With the help of a public address system, the pilot made an emergency landing on the freeway. A separate medical helicopter transported the boy to the hospital.
Between witnesses, paramedics and fire personnel, Sheriff’s deputies, CHP officers and a San Jose motorcycle officer, “There were a lot of people helping out,” Rios said.
