A head-on collision at Highway 156 and Lucy Brown Avenue
Wednesday morning sent one woman to the hospital with major
injuries and landed another under arrest for driving under the
influence of heroine, according to police.
A head-on collision at Highway 156 and Lucy Brown Avenue Wednesday morning sent one woman to the hospital with major injuries and landed another under arrest for driving under the influence of heroine, according to police.
Mary Ann Vuicich, 42, of Fresno, suffered major head trauma, facial fractures and possible paralysis to her left side after her 2002 Chevy Camaro was struck head-on by a 1998 Ford Windstar driven by Castroville resident Diana Lynn Jones around 8:30 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.
Jones was taken to Hazel Hawkins Hospital with broken ribs and a broken left leg, where she was arrested for felony DUI and possession of drug paraphernalia, said CHP Officer Terry Mayes.
“She admitted to using (heroine) right before driving and while she was driving,” Mayes said. “(Officers) found a syringe and a fresh injection site on her arm.”
Officers also found methamphetamine in Jones’ purse.
Duicich was transported by ambulance to Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital and her condition is considered guarded but critical, which means it’s “too close to call right now,” Mayes said.
Duicich was originally headed for Hazel Hawkins Hospital to be transported by helicopter to a San Jose-area hospital, but because there was too much fog the CALSTAR helicopter couldn’t pick her up, Mayes said.
Neither driver had any passengers in the car, and a child seat was found broken in several pieces in the back of Jones’ van.
The speed of both drivers is uncertain at this time, but Duicich was driving eastbound on Highway 156 when Jones drifted over into her lane, Mayes said.
“She was leaning over in her seat – she had moved away from the driver’s area – and she veered directly into the westbound lane and into the Camaro,” she said. “There was no obvious braking action.”
Jones’ vehicle glanced off the Camaro and ended up almost 400 feet away from where the impact occurred, Mayes said.
“The Camaro took complete energy absorption,” she said.
Both vehicles were totaled.
