A 32-year-old Brookfield man was taken to Danbury Hospital after his car knocked over a light pole at White Street and National Place early Thursday. Jose Vega-Hernandez, of North Lakeshore Drive, was headed east when his car ran up onto the sidewalk and struck the pole just before 1 a.m.
Vega-Hernandez was cited for failure to drive to the right, police said.
You're kidding right?
I was at this scene whe the accident happen...hell, I was about 3 car lengths away when the accident happen and was one of the first person's on the scene.
Once myself and the others around took ONE look at this guy, it was crystal clear that this accident was not a result of a "failure to drive to the right" but more likely "driving under the influence." The driver was completely out of it YET had no visible injuries, and the car window wasn't damaged (which indicates that he didn't hit his head on the window).
Most likely he didn't have any injuries because of the fact that the seatbelt on his car has one of those automatic shoulder belts that straps you in once you close the door (shoulder belt is visiable in the photo below). I also saw his car and from what I can remember, it didn't seem like his steering wheel was damaged (which In my opinion would indicate that he didn't hit his head on the wheel).
As I stated in my previous post, before the driver hit the pole, he ALMOST hit a group of people who were walking on the sidewalk as well as crossing the street. As I viewed from my mirror, he didn't just hit the pole out of no where but swerved to the right and left and slammed into the pole without applying his breaks.
Listen to the interview I did with the witnesses at the scene again (the timestamp on my recorder indicates that I tapes this conversation at EXACTLY 1:00 AM.
I stayed at the scene until the paramedics arrived and stood right over this guy while the police tried to talk to him. There is NO question that this guy was out of it and unless he had some type of medical condition, I would bet my house that the accident was most likely due to his physical condition at the time of the incident. Again, there were no visible marks on the driver's body. No blood, no wounds, no nothing...for the exception of a person who was looked COMPLETELY spaced out of his mind and was unable to answer any questions for a LONG period of time.
Although you can't rule out intoxicaiton, the driver oould have suffered a serizure BUT the problem I have is that the police report in the newspaper doesn't give any indicaiton of the person's physical condition at the time of the accident.
Was bloodwork done to determine if the driver was intoxicated?
While I was on the scene, I didn't see the police do any test to determine of the driver was intoxicated (most likely because the driver was all but passed out on the ground). Was there a test perfromed on the driver at the scene before he was taken away by the paramedics?
I wouldn't be so perplexed if it wasn't for the fact that I WITNESS THE ENTIRE ACCIDENT.
This person almost took out a LARGE group of people...and if it was not for the fact that he whacked the light pole, probably would had crashed into the cars that were at the stop light.
Alleged drunk driver nearly hit pedestrians on White Street; takes out light pole
Thursday, May 21, 2009 Time: 12:29 PM
Driver takes down light pole on White Street early Thursday morning. White Street: 05.21.09
My father always told me to keep my camera with me at all times because you never want to be unprepared when a news events spontaneously happens.
Last night was one of those times when I happy I listened to my father's advice.
On my way back home from hearing a VERY good Indy band at Cousin Larry's, I witness a driver almost take out a LARGE group of pedestrians who were walking back home from clubs on Ives Street. Luckily no one was hurt as the driver swerved off the street at a high rate of speed and plowed into a light pole. The location of the accident is marked in red in the following map below.
For the life of me, I have no idea how the light pole didn't strike any cars as it smashed to the ground.
After the accident, I pulled over, grabbed my camera and ran to the scene as people approached the car to see if the guy driving the car (who looked intoxicated) was injured. As the police raced to the scene (in a matter of minutes), I interviewed a group of people who saw everything (warning: explicit language):
Again, thankfully no one was hurt (for the exception of the driver who, according to witnesses, pulled out the car and placed on the sidewalk). This situation could have been MUCH worse as the only thing that stopped this car from striking buildings was the light pole.
Look for this incident in the police blotter in tomorrow's News-Times.
Sorry for the lack of posts but I've been real busy dealing with political stuff.
I'll probably get back to full speed here later today.
UPDATE: Sorry folks, this week is a REAL busy political week in the state. While there is down time here, and if you haven't already, I recommend that you go over and take a look at the new Danbury Live website and get caught up on the latest shows.
04.25.22 (RADIO): WSHU Latino group call on Connecticut lawmakers to open a Danbury charter school
06.03.22 (OP-ED): KUSHNER: "Career Academy ‘a great deal for Danbury"
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
The amended complaint states that plaintiffs sought to remedy the continued discriminatory and unauthorized enforcement of federal immigration laws against the Latino residents of the City of Danbury by Danbury's mayor and its police department.
Plaintiffs allege that the arrests violated their Fourth Amendment rights and the Connecticut Constitution because defendants conducted the arrests without valid warrants, in the absence of exigent circumstances, and without probable cause to believe that plaintiffs were engaged in unlawful activity. In addition, plaintiffs allege that defendants improperly stopped, detained, investigated, searched and arrested plaintiffs. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights when they intentionally targeted plaintiffs, and arrested and detained them on the basis of their race, ethnicity and perceived national origin. Plaintiffs raise First Amendment, Due Process and tort claims.
Plaintiffs request declaratory relief, damages and attorneys fees.
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
