Police are searching for an adult Hispanic male involved in a
hit-and-run accident on Highway 101 Sunday morning. The crash sent
three people to the hospital, one with major injuries, according to
the California Highway Patrol.
Hollister – Police are searching for an adult Hispanic male involved in a hit-and-run accident on Highway 101 Sunday morning. The crash sent three people to the hospital, one with major injuries, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The crash occurred on Highway 101, south of Highway 156, when an unidentified Hispanic male driving a 1988 Mazda 323 northbound on the wrong side of the road collided head-on around 4am with southbound East Palo Alto resident Ava Hill, according to CHP Officer Chris Armstrong.
Hill, 39, complained of pain to her chest while her passenger, Milpitas resident Harvey Johnson, 51, suffered ankle pain. Both were taken by ambulance to Hazel Hawkins Hospital in Hollister, where they were treated for the minor injuries, Armstrong said.
A passenger in the Mazda, Angel Vasquez, who police believe to be a Watsonville resident, was seriously injured and transported to Valley Medical Center in Santa Clara with a broken left femur and cuts to his head, Armstrong said.
The driver of the Mazda fled on foot. Officers used a hand-held thermal imaging device, akin to a giant video camera which detects body heat, to scour the area around the crash site, but by press time the suspect had not been identified or located, Armstrong said.
The CHP has asked nearby hospitals to be on the lookout for anyone matching the suspect’s description. The CHP could not determine if the suspect sustained injuries.
After searching the car, police found a case of beer with a couple cans missing. Armstrong said there wasn’t an odor of alcohol on Vasquez, who was not arrested, but alcohol could be a factor in the crash.
A bilingual officer interviewed Vasquez Monday but was unable to get much information about the driver or where the duo were traveling to or from. Vasquez speaks a dialect of Spanish and the officer had difficulty communicating with him, Armstrong said.
Hill was driving approximately 70 mph when she saw headlights approaching her 2003 Nissan Frontier, according to police. She turned her vehicle to the right in an attempt to avoid a collision, but the Mazda steered to the left and crashed into the front of her car, according to police. Both vehicles came to rest in the middle of the highway.
Anyone with information about the suspect’s whereabouts is being asked to contact the California Highway Patrol at (408) 848-2324.
In a separate, alcohol-related accident, 43-year-old Hollister resident Calendario Guerrero was arrested for felony driving under the influence after he collided with a cement bridge abutment on Anzar Road Saturday morning. The accident sent his wife, 39-year-old Rebecca Guerrero, to Stanford Medical Center with major injuries, according to police.
Around 12:30am, Guerrero was traveling eastbound on Anzar Road, west of San Juan Highway, at approximately 40 mph when he allowed his 1999 Chevy to hit the barrier, according to police. While Guerrero was transported to Hazel Hawkins Hospital for a cut lip, while he was in the emergency room his vital signs dropped and he was kept for further evaluation, according to police.
Guerrero was arrested by the CHP for felony driving under the influence but has not been booked in the San Benito County Jail, according to jail personnel.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
