An elderly Hollister minister and father of eight died instantly
after he lost control of his vehicle and collided almost head-on
with a delivery truck on San Felipe Road Monday afternoon,
according to police.
Hollister – An elderly Hollister minister and father of eight died instantly after he lost control of his vehicle and collided almost head-on with a delivery truck on San Felipe Road Monday afternoon, according to police.
German Rodriguez, 84, died at the scene and his 40-year-old daughter, Ada, who was in the passenger seat of the 1999 Kia, was taken to Hazel Hawkins Hospital and then flown via Calstar to Stanford Medical Center with complaint of pain to her chest and abdomen, according to police.
The woman is in stable condition and was expected to be released from the hospital Tuesday evening, according to her brother, German Rodriguez, Jr.
The sudden loss of their loved one has sent his family into a state of shock, German Rodriguez, Jr. said. After living in Hollister for nearly 30 years, raising eight children and doting on 13 grandchildren, Rodriguez spent most of his time preaching in the Apostolic Church, his son said.
“He was a man of God,” his son said. “He preached a lot and prayed for people. He was a good example for us. There’s so many (good) things about him it’s hard to sum it up.”
The collision occurred when Rodriguez lost control of his four-door sedan, entered into oncoming traffic and hit a large 2002 International delivery truck around 2:40pm Monday, Hollister Police spokesman George Ramirez said.
Although an autopsy is scheduled for today, San Benito County Sheriff Detective Sgt. Chris Green said the unofficial cause of death is blunt force trauma.
The accident is under investigation and Hollister police still had sketchy details by press time Tuesday.
But after talking to his sister, German Rodriguez, Jr. said another driver tried to move into the lane the elderly man was driving in, got too close and scared his father. Rodriguez tried to switch lanes but overcorrected, hit the median and lost control, his son said. Still driving out of control, police believe Rodriguez overcorrected again and shot back through the median and into oncoming traffic.
While police don’t know how heavy traffic was at the time of the accident, the delivery truck driver out of Santa Fe Springs had no time to brake or swerve to avoid hitting the car and collided with Rodriguez’s smaller car nearly head-on, Ramirez said.
Police still don’t know how fast either vehicle was traveling, Ramirez said.
Although the delivery truck had significant damage to the driver’s side, the 51-year-old driver was uninjured and left the scene without a citation or arrest, Ramirez said. Neither driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol and everyone involved was wearing their seat belt, he said.
Rodriguez’s Kia was totaled, but the driver’s side sustained more damage than the passenger’s side, Ramirez said. Because of the logistics of the crash, emergency personnel were able to remove the passenger without much difficulty, but they had to extricate Rodriguez with the jaws of life, Ramirez said.
Rodriguez had already expired by the time emergency personnel removed his body, he said.
Although it took approximately three hours for emergency crews to clean up the wreckage, the California Highway Patrol assisted local cops with traffic control and motorists were able to pass through the scene using only the southbound lane.
Services for Rodriguez will be held on Thursday at the Apostolic Church. For more information, contact Black Cooper Sander Funeral Home at (831) 637-3793.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
