Tuolumne, CA….On April 7th at 12:25am a 17 year old Sonora man was driving a 1996 Chevy Silvarado southbound on Mi Wu Street south of Seven Pines Road. The driver was unable to maintain his vehicle and drove off the roadway, down an embankment colliding with several trees. The minor exited the vehicle and fled the scene of the collision with one of the passengers. The other two passengers stayed with the vehicle until emergency personnel arrived on scene. As Officer Lopez and Officer Dillon were on scene investigating the collision, the driver who had already been identified, returned to the scene. The driver was determined to be under the influence of alcohol and arrested for felony driving under the influence and felony hit and run.

The was transported to SRMC for his injuries and released to Probation authorities. A female passenger was transported to SRMC for an injury to her right ankle. During the investigation she was determined to be unable to care for herself and was arrested fo public intoxication. The other passenger that fled the scene, was contacted a couple of hours later at a relatives house and was not injured.

The collision occurred after the presentation of the “Every 15 Minutes” program at Summerville High School just a few days prior to this incident. The CHP facilitates the program as a means to remind high school students of all ages to make the right decision when it comes to not only driving while impaired, but drinking alcohol period. The CHP would like to remind everyone of the dangers of impaired driving and the completely avoidable consequences drunk driving will create if one makes that fatefully wrong decision. This is the time to provide support of the victims involved in this collision, including the driver, and let them know we want to help them make the correct decisions when it comes to alcohol consumption and impaired driving.