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NEWS
> CRIME & COURTS
Civilian: 'You need to go to jail for this'
| | | | | | | | |  | | | | | The driver responsible for the accident was taken into custody at the scene Thursday afternoon after he was found to be under the influence of alcohol. The driver ran the stop sign at the Memorial and Meridian drives - which caused a truck to overturn, injuring two. Authorities arrested the man.
 For more pictures of the accident, visit our photo gallery. | | | | | Photo by: Nick Lovejoy, The Free Lance | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | | | | | Emergency workers tend to a victim of a two car accident that took place at the intersection of Meridian and Memorial Thursday afternoon sending two people to the hospital, one of which by helicopter. | | | | | Photo by: Nick Lovejoy, The Free Lance | | | | | | | | | |
A suspected drunk driver drove his car through a stop sign and slammed into a pickup truck at the intersection of Memorial Drive and Meridian Street Thursday, causing serious injuries to the driver of the other vehicle.
After the accident, witnesses said the car's driver tried to flee the scene but was brought back by a mother who ran after him and "dragged him back" by his shirt.
The driver of the truck was flown to a Bay Area hospital by helicopter. This victim's son also was in the truck, but suffered less serious injuries and was taken to Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, according to firefighters at the scene.
The driver of the car was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and several other charges stemming from the accident. He was not injured and was taken straight to San Benito County Jail, police said.
A crowd of onlookers had gathered Thursday at the intersection where the victim's Toyota Tacoma sat upside down in the middle of the road. The suspected drunk driver's car - a maroon Honda Accord - was left crumpled on the sidewalk of Meridian Street pointed east.
Witnesses of the crash say the driver of the Accord was traveling extremely fast eastbound on Meridian when he drove through the stop sign at Memorial Drive, in front of Marguerite Maze Middle School, and crashed into the Tacoma, which was turning right into the intersection.
"The truck flipped like three times in the air," said Jose Munoz, who said he was outside of the school with his daughter when the accident occurred. "Then the guy (in the Accord) just got out and ran."
Several witnesses said the suspected drunk driver tried to run away after the accident. Melissa Williams of San Juan Bautista said at that point, she took matters into her own hands.
""I ran after him, caught him, grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him back (to the scene)," she said. "I was like, 'No, you need to go to jail for this.'"
Several people at the scene said excessive speeding is common on Meridian Street and many people come there to participate in illegal street races.
"They need to put some speed bumps in front of the school," Munoz said. "If he had hit a kid going that fast, he'd be dead."
Curtis Cartier
Curtis Cartier covers the City of Hollister and public safety for the Free Lance. Reach him at (831) 637-5566 or email him.
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