GILROY
Police are still investigating the death of Margaret Garza, 45, who died Saturday night, several hours after she was hit by a pickup truck near the Gilroy Sports Park.
“The investigation is ongoing,” said Sgt. Jim Gillio. “We’re still trying to work out all the real fine details to find out who was at fault.”
The police have not made any arrests and said the driver of the Ford F150 that hit Garza was “completely cooperative.”
At 1:20 p.m. Saturday afternoon, police responded to an accident on Monterey Road near Monterey Frontage Road and found Garza, of Gilroy lying on the pavement in the roadway. She suffered severe, life-threatening injuries from being struck by the truck, Gillio said. Emergency personnel transported her by air ambulance to an area trauma center where she died later that evening.
After a preliminary investigation, police do not believe the driver of the truck, who waited at the scene until police arrived, was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the collision. Police would not release information about the driver or how many people were in the truck. The driver was not injured and was released from the scene pending further investigation.
Garza was walking along the east side of Monterey and began crossing the road toward the sports park when she was hit, police said. She crossed in an area where there is no traffic light or crosswalk. Witnesses said there wasn’t much the driver of the truck could do to avoid the accident.
“We still need to do a full investigation to determine who was at fault,” Gillio said. “We won’t know that (whether the driver will be charged) until the investigation is completed.”
Although he didn’t see the accident, Roman Barba, a sales and leasing representative at the Gilroy Ford, Lincoln, Mercury dealership at the corner of Monterey and Luchessa, said he saw Garza lying on the ground in the northbound lane of Monterey as paramedics tended to her.
“Poor lady was lying there screaming her head off,” he said.
Barba said the white Ford F150 that hit her had a deep dent in the hood from the impact. Although he didn’t know if the truck that hit Garza was speeding, Barba said that, often, cars whip by the dealership much faster than the posted 50 mile per hour speed limit. When the sports park is packed on weekends, people trying to scamper across the highway are putting their lives in danger, he said.
Police did not know what Garza was doing in the area of the accident. She didn’t live nearby, Gillio said.
The Gilroy Police Department Major Accident Investigation Team is currently investigating the cause of the collision and will not release additional information.
“These investigations are labor intensive and require meticulous attention to detail,” said Sgt. Joseph Deras.
