A host of accidents, including two fatal crashes that took the
life of a pair of San Benito County residents, and two other minor
incidents kept California Highway Patrol officers jumping over the
weekend, according to police.
Hollister – A host of accidents, including two fatal crashes that took the life of a pair of San Benito County residents, and two other minor incidents kept California Highway Patrol officers jumping over the weekend, according to police.
Two Salinas residents were taken to Hazel Hawkins Hospital with minor injuries Friday around 9pm after 24-year-old Elliot Turpin crashed his 2002 Suzuki motorcycle at the intersection of Union Road and San Benito Street, said Officer Brad Voyles.
Turpin and his 20-year-old passenger, Amanda Fuller, were traveling westbound on Union Road at an unknown rate of speed when Turpin lost control of the motorcycle in the middle of the intersection, Voyles said.
“For whatever reason – he was going too fast – he laid the motorcycle down,” he said.
Turpin and Fuller, who both were wearing helmets, complained of pain to their shoulders, hips, backs and legs and were taken by ambulance to Hazel Hawkins, Voyles said. No other cars were involved and alcohol was not a factor, he said.
While a single-vehicle crash on Fairview Road early Saturday morning killed 40-year-old Hollister resident Cipriana Hernandez Gonzalez, another solo crash in Tres Pinos Sunday morning sent two San Jose residents to Hazel Hawkins with only minor injuries, Voyles said.
Just hours before a major, three-car accident on Highway 156 Sunday that killed 19-year-old San Juan Bautista resident Paulino Jimenez Elizarraras, officers responded to an accident on Highway 25 in Tres Pinos where Bagalur Muralidhara, 44, overturned his 1996 Nissan Maxima after losing control of the vehicle, Voyles said. Muralidhara and his 6-year-old passenger only suffered minor injuries in the accident, but destroyed 50 feet of fencing along the road just north of Tres Pinos Creek Bridge, Voyles said.
Muralidhara had a bloody nose and the child had a cut on his left hand, but avoided more serious injury because the pair were wearing their seatbelts, Voyles said.
Voyles didn’t know why Muralidhara lost control in the first place, but said alcohol was not a factor in the crash and there weren’t any other cars around when it occurred.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or em*******@fr***********.com
