Sheriff Curtis Hill in a letter to the Free Lance said his
office cannot release the video recording of the Aug. 2 accident
that totaled a deputy’s Dodge Charger, damaged a restaurant
building and resulted in the suspected drunken driving arrest of a
19-year-old Hollister female.
HOLLISTER
Sheriff Curtis Hill in a letter to the Free Lance said his office cannot release the video recording of the Aug. 2 accident that totaled a deputy’s Dodge Charger, damaged a restaurant building and resulted in the suspected drunken driving arrest of a 19-year-old Hollister female.
The Free Lance sent a public records request to the sheriff’s office on Aug. 5 requesting a copy of the video recording, but the letter says the department cannot release the recording until the investigation is completed. The letter also states that the recording is part of the evidence the Hollister-Gilroy California Highway Patrol is using in its investigation and that “releasing evidence prematurely may have an impact on the case.”
The incident occurred at 2:15 a.m. Aug. 2 when the deputy was pulling out of the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office parking lot on Fourth Street and saw a car traveling westbound at a high rate of speed and swerving across the center lane. The deputy turned on his lights and attempted to catch the vehicle.
The California Highway Patrol reported that the deputy was traveling at a speed of 65 MPH. When the deputy got to the intersection of Line and Fourth streets, a 19-year-old Hollister female driver pulled out into the intersection. The deputy tried to avoid the suspect’s car but couldn’t and struck the Volkswagen Jetta on the left side. Both cars were totaled and ended up hitting El Grullense in both the side and front of the building.
After the accident, Hill preliminarily said that the deputy didn’t break any rules and it was OK for the deputy to be traveling that fast on Fourth Street at 2:15 a.m.
“It’s the middle of the night,” he said. “Every officer has done that chasing drunk drivers.”
The facsimile to the newspaper also confirmed that the suspect in the case, a 19-year-old Hollister female, was arrested for driving under the influence after the incident.
