Five people were hurt in a three-vehicle accident that knotted
traffic on Highway 156 in northern Monterey County on Sunday.
By Larry Parsons, McClatchy News Service
Five people were hurt in a three-vehicle accident that knotted traffic on Highway 156 in northern Monterey County on Sunday.
The accident occurred about 10:40a.m. at Highway 156 and Castroville Boulevard, emergency workers said.
There were nine people traveling in three vehicles – a Honda sedan, a pickup and a minivan – and five were taken to local hospitals by ambulance, said North County fire Lt. Brian Wilson.
One of the injured was going to be flown by air ambulance but it was too overcast for the helicopter flight, Wilson said.
The Highway Patrol said four of the injured were in a 2001 Honda Accord driven by Eusebio Oliverio, 38, of Fremont. He and his passengers, Leticia Bautista, 63, Maria Bautista, 39 and a 9-month-old child, all of Fremont, were taken to Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital. The CHP said their injuries ranged from minor to the driver and infant to moderate to the other two passengers.
Also suffering minor injuries was Nicholas Simpson, 30, of Arcata, who was driving a 1994 Chrysler Town & Country, the CHP said. He was taken to Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula.
The other vehicle, a 2008 Chevrolet pickup, was driven by Sonny Tan, 32, of Sunnyvale, the CHP said.
CHP officers said Simpson was stopped at a red light on Highway 156 at Castroville Boulevard. Oliverio’s Honda was stopped behind him.
The CHP said Tan was headed west on the highway at a stated speed of 50 mph and didn’t see that traffic had stopped in front
of him. Moments after the signal turned green, his pickup hit the rear of the Honda, and pushed the car into the minivan and then into a light pole, the CHP said.
The pickup driver was unhurt, the CHP said.
The CHP said the accident remained under investigation, and officers ask anyone with information about the crash to call the CHP Monterey area office at 796-2100.
