A suspected drunk driver drove his car through a stop sign and
slammed into a pickup truck at the intersection of Memorial Drive
and Meridian Street today, causing serious injuries to the driver
of the other vehicle.
photo gallery of the accident
A suspected drunk driver drove his car through a stop sign and slammed into a pickup truck at the intersection of Memorial Drive and Meridian Street Thursday, causing serious injuries to the driver of the other vehicle.
After the accident, witnesses said the car’s driver tried to flee the scene but was brought back by a mother who ran after him and “dragged him back” by his shirt.
The driver of the truck was flown to a Bay Area hospital by helicopter. This victim’s son also was in the truck, but suffered less serious injuries and was taken to Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, according to firefighters at the scene.
The driver of the car was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and several other charges stemming from the accident. He was not injured and was taken straight to San Benito County Jail, police said.
A crowd of onlookers had gathered Thursday at the intersection where the victim’s Toyota Tacoma sat upside down in the middle of the road. The suspected drunk driver’s car – a maroon Honda Accord – was left crumpled on the sidewalk of Meridian Street pointed east.
Witnesses of the crash say the driver of the Accord was traveling extremely fast eastbound on Meridian when he drove through the stop sign at Memorial Drive, in front of Marguerite Maze Middle School, and crashed into the Tacoma, which was turning right into the intersection.
“The truck flipped like three times in the air,” said Jose Munoz, who said he was outside of the school with his daughter when the accident occurred. “Then the guy (in the Accord) just got out and ran.”
Several witnesses said the suspected drunk driver tried to run away after the accident. Melissa Williams of San Juan Bautista said at that point, she took matters into her own hands.
“”I ran after him, caught him, grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him back (to the scene),” she said. “I was like, ‘No, you need to go to jail for this.'”
Several people at the scene said excessive speeding is common on Meridian Street and many people come there to participate in illegal street races.
“They need to put some speed bumps in front of the school,” Munoz said. “If he had hit a kid going that fast, he’d be dead.”
