2010 August
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Bus and Truck Collide & Injured

buscrash_t352VALLEY CENTER — A North County Transit District bus driver and six passengers were taken to the hospital with minor injuries after a collision with a pickup Saturday afternoon in Valley Center, authorities said. The crash occurred about 2 p.m. on North Lake Wohlford Road south of Valley Center Road. The southbound pickup crossed into northbound lanes and hit the bus, said California Highway Patrol Sgt. Scott Payson. Payson said the left front end of the truck hit the left front of the bus, causing moderate damage to both vehicles. The pickup’s driver wasn’t injured, but the bus driver and six passengers suffered minor injuries. They were taken to the hospital by ambulance, Payson said. The windshield of the bus was shattered, and some of the passengers suffered neck and back pain, one passenger said. Officers are investigating why the pickup driver swerved into the wrong lane on a straight stretch of road. Payson said drugs and alcohol did not appear to be factors in the collision, but the driver may have been distracted, possibly by a cell phone. The driver was not arrested. The damaged vehicles blocked lanes for a time, but Payson said the road was not closed to traffic during the investigation.


Motorcyclist Killed in Bay Park

motorcycle-crash (1)A 42-year-old motorcyclist who was killed Monday in Bay Park has been identified by the Medical Examiner’s Office as Dean Lawrence Brodie of San Diego. Brodie was riding north on Mount Acadia Boulevard near Tecolote Canyon Golf Course about 2:15 p.m. when he lost control of the motorcycle. It struck a sign post and then a guardrail. San Diego police received a 911 call from a passer-by who saw him lying on the pavement unconscious. Brodie was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where he died at 3:16 p.m. of blunt-force torso injuries, a medical examiner’s report said. He is survived by his wife and daughter.


Authorities Identify Sailors Killed On SR54 Crash

3corvette_20071115_001The Navy on Wednesday identified the two sailors killed Tuesday when the speeding Corvette they were in careened off the curving transition from southbound Interstate 5 to eastbound state Route 54 and fell about 100 feet to northbound Interstate 5, landing on its roof. The victims were Brian Jeffrey Davis, 20, of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Seth Allen Hartin, 25, of Bangs, Texas, said Brian O’Rourke, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest. Both were enlisted and were students at Naval Base Point Loma, O’Rourke said. Both were single. California Highway Patrol Officer Art Athans said Wednesday that Davis was the driver of the 1998 Corvette, which went over the side of the transition about 4:20 p.m. Athans said witnesses estimated that the car had been traveling about 100 mph. He said there was no initial indication that drugs or alcohol played a factor in the crash. “Miraculously, the car did not land on anybody,” Athans said, although he said some debris hit other vehicles. Athans said some witnesses who stopped at the scene flipped the car onto its wheels, but were unable to reach the men because the car’s roof was completely smashed in. Davis died at the scene, and Hartin was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital. Athans said that the car landed in the No. 4 lane of north I-5, then skidded onto the shoulder and came back to rest in the No. 4 lane. He said both men were wearing seat belts. They died of massive head injuries. The accident caused huge traffic jams during the rush hour on both the I-5 and SR-54, as some lanes were closed during the investigation.


Woman Crashes SUV and Dies

durango_t352SANTEE — A woman was killed early Wednesday morning after she lost control of her SUV and crashed into the front yard of a house. The woman was traveling south on North Magnolia Avenue just north of Mission Gorge Road at 2:25 a.m. in a red Dodge Durango when she veered across the four-lane road, sheriff’s Sgt. Scott Hill said. The SUV sheared off a power pole, hit a tree, rolled at least once and ended up on its passenger side, Hill said. The woman, who was not wearing a seat belt, was partially ejected and died at the scene, the sergeant said. Investigators do not know what caused the woman to lose control of the vehicle. Hill said they do believe she was driving too fast. It’s not yet known if drugs or alcohol were a factor. Deputies shut down North Magnolia between Mission Gorge and Mast Boulevard while they conducted the accident investigation. “There is quite a large collision scene we have here,” Hill said. No one at the home was injured. The residents told deputies they heard a loud noise, ran outside and then called 911. Three vehicles parked in the driveway were damaged by debris, Hill said. Power to the home was shut off so SDG&E crews could repair the pole but the accident did not cause any outages in the neighborhood, Hill said. The woman has not been identified. She appeared to be in her 40s, Hill said. Authorities expected to have the roadway shut down until at least 9 a.m.


Speeder who killed another driver had history of driving fast

Pics_BMW_X5_Crash_4SAN DIEGO — A 57-year-old San Diego man accused of driving while intoxicated and causing a fatal crash Friday night in Carmel Mountain is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court. Anthony Guarino is charged with gross vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence and DUI causing bodily injury. According to Department of Motor Vehicle records, Guarino was cited on April 22, 2006, for driving in excess of 100 mph, and was convicted two months later. He was driving a BMW sedan at the time. In the accident Friday night, Marc William Durham, 65, of Rancho Bernardo was killed when his Toyota Corolla was hit from behind by a BMW sedan driven by Guarino. The impact caused a chain-reaction crash involving four other cars. The accident occurred on Camino del Norte at the intersection of Carmel Mountain Road. Guarino and the drivers of three other cars were taken to hospitals with minor injuries. Durham died at the scene. Police said Guarino was driving at a high rate of speed in the BMW when the accident occurred. Durham and the other drivers were stopped at a red light at the intersection. Durham, who was married for more than 40 years, had just retired, according to KGTV/Channel 10, a media partner of the Union-Tribune.


Dump Truck wreck seriously injures one

p1 aiSAN DIEGO — A woman was seriously injured Monday when her compact sedan collided with a dump truck adjacent to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, a San Diego police lieutenant said. The crash occurred around 9 a.m. when the driver of an empty dump truck allegedly ran a red light from the state Route 163 off-ramp to Kearny Villa Road, Lt. Andra Brown said. The sedan, which entered the intersection on a green light, was broadsided, and the 39-year-old Clairemont resident was taken to a hospital with major injuries, according to Brown. It was unclear whether the truck driver was hurt. Lanes in the area were closed for the rest of the morning as officers investigated the crash.


Drivers badly injured in Mission Valley crash

MISSION VALLEY — A 70-year-old motorist swerved across Friars Road and collided head-on with a sedan Friday morning, seriously injuring both drivers, San Diego police said.mv-crash-400x300 The crash occurred about 11:05 a.m. east of Fenton Parkway, near the Costco shopping center. Police Sgt. Jim Reschke called the impact “violent,” with no evidence that either driver braked before they hit at speeds likely close to the posted limit of 50 mph. The 70-year-old man was driving a Ford F150 pickup westbound on Friars, but for an unknown reason, veered across the raised center divider and into eastbound lanes. His truck hit an oncoming four-door Dodge Stratus driven by a 25-year-old man. Reschke said the impact shoved the Dodge’s engine compartment into the passenger compartment, shattering both of the driver’s thigh bones. It took firefighters 35 minutes to cut and pry away the wreckage to free him. Firefighters were able to pull the older man from his truck in 15 minutes. He suffered a broken thigh bone, ribs, hand and foot, along with cuts and bruises, Reschke said. Both drivers were taken to the hospital in serious condition. “The only good thing about this crash is, they’re both going to survive,” Reschke said. Friars Road was closed for about two and a half hours for an investigation.


SUV hits teen at National City bus bench

bus0718--crashjpg-11a70a6f6090e595NATIONAL CITY — An SUV plowed into a bus stop bench Thursday morning, seriously injuring a teenage boy sitting there, National City police said. Officers are investigating why the driver veered over a curb and across the sidewalk before crashing into the bus bench at Plaza Boulevard and Palm Avenue, according to KGTV Channel 10. The boy, about age 15, reportedly was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. The driver was detained for questioning. It wasn’t immediately clear if drugs or alcohol may have played a role in the accident.


Pedestrian Killed on I-5

20080505__I25Body~p1SAN DIEGO — A pedestrian was struck and killed overnight in the Midtown area on southbound Interstate 5. The man was on the highway just before midnight in the slow lane north of Washington Street when he was hit, officials with the California Highway Patrol said. He was declared dead about 11 minutes later. The driver involved in the crash, who was in a silver pickup, stopped, the CHP said. Just before the crash, police received a call that three men who appeared to be intoxicated were at the intersection of east Interstate 8 and Morena Boulevard and one of them was walking on the freeway on-ramp. Officers are investigating and have not yet determined if that man was the same person who was hit. The victim’s name has not been released.


3 Teens Seriously injured when car drives through La Jolla Bakery

cafe_t352LA JOLLA — Three teenagers walking on a Bird Rock sidewalk Sunday were seriously injured when a car driven by a man with a history of drug and alcohol abuse struck them, sending all three to the hospital, authorities said. Two of the teens were recovering at hospitals Monday, and Alani Aguerre, 14, was preparing for surgery, said her father, Santiago Aguerre. Alani suffered a broken left leg, broken left arm, broken pelvis and other injuries, her father said. “We were on our way to the hospital, and I wasn’t going to say anything to my wife, but I wasn’t planning to see my daughter alive,” said Aguerre, co-founder of the outdoor company Reef. “I thought we lost her.” She was carried about 20 yards on the car’s hood, thrown through a glass window and then pinned under the car at a scene described by witnesses as shocking and dreadful. The crash occurred on La Jolla Boulevard near Midway Street about 6:30 p.m. when a Chrysler New Yorker driven by Ronald Troyer, a 66-year-old transient, veered onto the sidewalk, striking the three teenagers and narrowly missing two others, San Diego police Detective Dan Wall said. Miles Polger and Ian Brininstool, the other teenagers injured in the crash, were still in hospitals Monday, said Lorne Polger, Miles’ father. Wall said Troyer’s car continued into The Cass Street Cafe & Bakery, hitting and injuring two patrons, Jeffrey and Sharon Macelli. There injuries do not appear to be life threatening, authorities said. The crash happened on a stretch of La Jolla Boulevard where a series of roundabouts have replaced five stop signs, narrowing traffic to two lanes from four. Sharon Smull Hinckley, who lives nearby and arrived shortly after the collision, called the scene “startling.” “People were shaken up and there was glass everywhere,” she said. Troyer, who was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, was convicted twice in 2005 for driving under the influence, according to records from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Records show that Troyer was convicted three times — in 2006, 2007 and 2008 — for driving with a suspended or revoked license. His license has been suspended seven times since 2004. He does not have a current driver’s license, records show. Aguerre, who with his brother sold Reef to VF Corp. in 2005, said he hoped the crash would send a message that more needs to be done to prevent people with a history of abusing drugs and alcohol from driving. “It’s like releasing a serial killer from prison, handing them a gun and sending them off on their own,” Aguerre said. “Everybody tolerates it until it happens to them. Then it’s real.”