Crime Briefs: DUI Crashes

Two suspected drunk drivers were involved in separate hit-and-run crashes this weekend in Watsonville, police reported.

Just before 9 p.m. Saturday, officers were called to an injury accident on East Lake at Palm avenues. A heavily damaged vehicle was speeding away, going to wrong way on East Lake. An officer tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver refused and there was a short chase, police reported.

The driver crashed into a wall on the Harkins Slough bridge near Walker Street.

Jose Diaz Perez, 52, suffered minor injuries. He was treated at the scene then arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, evading and hit and run, police reported.

Apparently, the first crash happened around 8:50 p.m. when Perez drove his vehicle into another car and a light pole on East Lake, police said.

A day prior, around 6 p.m. Friday, a car fled after a crash on Stanford Street and Monte Vista Avenue that left one man badly hurt, police reported.

A witness followed the suspected hit-and-run driver and saw it pulling into an alley on the 100 block of Prospect Street. Officers responded there, found the car and contacted the suspected driver inside the home, police reported.

The 20-year-old man reportedly admitted he was the driver who fled and also that he had been drinking. He was arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run and driving under the influence, police said.

The other man involved in the crash was flown to an out-of-county trauma center to be treated for non life-threatening injuries, according to police.