SAN DIEGO — Two drivers who where suspected of being under the influence were arrested this morning and two hit-and-run drivers are being sought by police officers after causing a multicar pileup on the 805 south near Market Street. Police officers blocked traffic for almost two hours Thursday morning while their investigation was underway.The crash began around 2 a.m. when a man driving a mid sized Saturn lost control and went drove into the highway median, according to police. The man’s vehicle came to a stop blocking the southbound fast lane of the freeway and was rammed from behind by a driver in a small Nissan Sentra who was unable to stop in time. The driver of the Nissan and his passenger were trapped in their car and had to be extracted with the jaws of life. The driver of the Saturn, 34-year-old Francis Rolan Samson Bueno, was later arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. He sustained major head injuries. The driver of the Sentra, Emmanuel Zapien, 23, was also arrested on suspicion of DUI. A third crash occurred when a 33-year-old Man stopped on the opposite shoulder and ran across four lanes to try and divert traffic from the crash. Franklin, who was putting flares on the road, was struck by another vehicle that failed to stop. The man suffered life threatening injuries. The vehicle that hit him is believed to be a 2001 BMW, either a 330i or a 325. The car is white and has damage to its right front right side. Police are actively looking for the driver of this vehicle. A fourth collision occurred in the traffic caused by the earlier wrecks. Another Man, who was driving a Honda Civic, was unable to avoid the stopped traffic in front of him and ran into an unknown vehicle, which drove off without stopping. Diaz suffered major injuries in that crash. In all, five drivers suffered major injuries and were hospitalized. The freeway reopened at 4 a.m.
FALLBROOK — A pedestrian was killed Friday morning when they where hit by a school bus passing in front of a junior high school. The accident was reported at around 6 this morning on Reche Road in front of Potter Jr. High School. A California Highway Patrol spokesman said he did not believe the person who was struck was a child. Authorities are still determining the identity of the victim and will release the name once the family has been contacted. All traffic has been stopped and diverted between South Stage Coach Lane and Green Canyon Road in both directions while the incident is investigated further, the CHP said.
EAST COUNTY REGIONAL COURT — The driver Richard Alfred Daus, 74, who crashed into a Carl’s Jr. restaurant in El Cajon last month, was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving while under the influence and could face 15 years to life in prison. The driver was arrested about 11 a.m. yesterday by El Cajon police. Daus who has prior duis and a history of arrests was charged under a section of state DUI law that calls for harsher sentences for people with a history of DUI’s. The drivers blood acohol content was nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent two hours after the wreck. Randy Eugene Smith,66, who was killed in the crash, was a regular customer at the Carl’s Jr. in the Madison Plaza. Smith was eating breakfast at his reguklar corner booth when a Honda SUV driven by Daus slammed into the restaurant. The accident was caught on survelience tapes.
El Cajon – A 43-year-old man from El Cajon died was killed last night on La Cresta Road close to Mountain View Road, according to authorities. A 60-year-old woman who was passing on the right and driving a 2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, ran-over the man when he got out of his 98 Toyota Corolla while arguing with his girlfriend and fell into the traffic lane. The couple had just left a store near the intersection and the driver, a 51-year-old woman from El Cajon, was in the left-turn lane on La Cresta Road waiting to turn onto Mountain View Road.
SAN DIEGO — A woman was killed Today on Interstate 5 close to downtown when a taxi clipped the back of her vehicle and causing it to become overturned on the freeway, according to CHP officials. The accident caused a lengthy closure of all traffic on southbound Interstate 5 in the area. Brandon Garland, of the California Highway Patrol Office, said the crash occurred when a taxi driver, who was traveling about 65 mph made a lane change, moving from the No. 2 lane to the No. 4 lane, and clipped the left rear of the Chevy SUV driving ahead of it. The SUV overturned and came to rest in the lanes of southbound Interstate 5 just north of Broadway, Garland said. The driver of the Chevy sustained fatal injuries and died before she could be taken to a hospital. No one else was in the vehicle. Her name was not released. CHP officers diverted traffic from southbound I-5 to state Route 94 as the scene was being cleared and the accident was being investigated. “Whenever something happens here in the s-curve area of downtown it affects everybody,” he said.
El Cajon – Investigators say it is now possible that the floor mats had nothing to do with the car crash that killed the Saylor family. “It could be the floor mats. It could be the pedals. Or it could be the algorithms,” or how the vehicle handles faulty signals from its sensors, Folck said. “It’s just hard to know what it is.” A forensic mechanic who reconstructs accidents and vehicle defects for a living, Folck says the crash could well have been caused by a floor mat — just as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concluded. The bottom line is investigators still are not sure and Toyota might have jumped the gun with concluding that it was only the floor mats. So far Toyota has recalled 5.4 million vehicles for floor mat problems and 2.3 million vehicles for sticking accelerator pedals. Toyota has maintained that it has not identified any problems with electronics in its vehicles that could trigger the sudden acceleration, and no outside body has proven such a fault exists.
MORENO VALLEY, CALIFORNIA— Two small children, and 2 adults, died when they where sandwiched between two semi-trucks. The vehicles caught fire Sunday afternoon in the city of Ontario, located southern California. CHP reported 4 deaths and 3 minor injuries, and shut down the highway Saturday afternoon while the crash was investigated. The deaths were caused by a chain-reaction of wrecks that cumulated with the 4 deaths. Paramedics pronounced the victims dead at the scene. Ryan Villalpando, 32, wife Veronica Villalpando 29, their son Mateo, 4, and infant Bella Rose died in the crash south of East Jurupa Street in Ontario.
Vista-Lucas Giaconelli, a 15-year-old, who was skateboarding with friends on Thibodo Road was killed in a hit and run accident Friday evening. The 92 year-old driver came forward to Deputy Ed Macken, while he was conducting traffic control near a memorial for the fatal accident. The elderly man told Macken he didn’t stop following the crash because he thought his vehicle had struck an animal. He said he only realized a person had died there when he saw the roadside candlelight vigil. No arrests have been made, and no charges have been filed. Watch Video
El Cajon – David Reed, a 50 year old man, was killed in a head-on collision involving Andrew Bellatti, a 12th round draft pick for the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team, on January 22. Andrew Bellatti was apparently speeding in excess of 80 MPH when he crossed a pair of double yellow lines and crashed head-on with David Reed’s car killing him instantly. Also injured was Reed’s 17 year old son and Bellatti’s 16 year old girlfriend. Authorities confirm that drugs or alcohol don’t appear to be a contributing factor in the cause of this crash and it was most likely due to careless driving and excessive speed. Bellatti who was 18 years old at the time of the accident escaped with only minor injuries.
EL Cajon— A 23 year old woman was killed last night when she was struck by a motorist on the freeway. Rebecca Ann Phillips was hit at about 10 p.m. last night while walking on the southbound shoulder of route 125. A red Chevy car struck and killed the young lady when she walked into the flow of traffic. The young lady who was a passenger in a green Ford Taurus died at the scene. First responders did everything in their power to revive the woman but due to the speed involved and severity of the injuries there was little that could have been done. Officers are still investigating the cause of the accident.
