Drunken Driver Flees Police, Causes Head-On Crash

A suspected drunken driver caused a nasty crash late Saturday that sent himself and two other people to the hospital, Watsonville police reported.

Police officer Brian Rodriguez tried to pull over Anthony Martinez on Freedom Boulevard around 11:13 p.m. Martinez was heading north near Prospect Street in a gray Honda Accord, but he didn't stop the car, police said.

Martinez went east on Prospect, turned south on Monte Vista then stopped at Monte Vist and Stanford Street. At the stop sign, police said he turned off his headlights and sped west on Stanford. He missed the stop sign at Stanford and Lincoln streets, and lost traction to his vehicle, police reported.

Rodriguez, the officer, lost sight of Martinez's car as it crested the hill at Stanford and Freedom. That's when, according to witnesses, his Accord drove into the path of another car that going north on Freedom.

The 26-year-old woman driving that car and the 33-year-old man riding in the passenger seat were hurt. They were taken to Watsonville Community Hospital, police said.

Emergency crews found Martinez in the backseat of his car suffering from a head injury. He was flown to a trauma center for treatment, police said.

Officers are investigating the accident as felony drunken driving.