GILROY
–– Extensive water and wet leaves on the roadway caused a
Hollister man’s pickup truck to hydroplane and hit a sports car
head-on, killing the car’s driver, 20-year-old Jeremy Cooner of
Gilroy.
That’s what a police report, released Tuesday, said of a fatal
crash that took place Dec. 29 on Luchessa Avenue just east of
Princevalle Street.
GILROY –– Extensive water and wet leaves on the roadway caused a Hollister man’s pickup truck to hydroplane and hit a sports car head-on, killing the car’s driver, 20-year-old Jeremy Cooner of Gilroy.
That’s what a police report, released Tuesday, said of a fatal crash that took place Dec. 29 on Luchessa Avenue just east of Princevalle Street.
The lead accident investigator, police Officer Frank Bozzo, determined that the fault lay with the pickup truck’s driver, Brandon Casquilho, 32, of Hollister, but no charges have been pressed. Police will let a deputy district attorney review Bozzo’s report and decide on charges for Casquilho.
“The investigator has concluded that (Casquilho) was at fault because he was going a little too fast for the conditions present,” Sgt. Jack Robinson said.
The speed limit for that section of Luchessa is 40 mph. Casquilho told police he was going 40 to 45 mph westbound when his Dodge Dakota pickup began to hydroplane while going around a curve to the right, and he lost control. He tried to brake, he said, but his tires could not grip the wet road. Instead of following the curve in the road, the truck went straight, crossing into the opposite lane and striking Cooner’s Toyota MR2 head-on.
Police still don’t know how fast Cooner was going. Investigators found it impossible to objectively determine either vehicle’s speed since the heavy rain obscured skid marks, Robinson said.
Neither driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time, police reported.
Both drivers were wearing seat belts, police said. Cooner was declared dead minutes after the accident.
“(It’s) just a straight-up tragedy,” Robinson said.
The police department’s Major Accident Investigative Team handled the investigation. Robinson declined to answer why the team’s report was not released until more than three weeks after the accident.
