HEMET: Elderly driver injured after hitting power pole, knocking down mailbox
HEMET — An elderly driver was injured when his pickup truck went over a curb and struck a power pole before knocking over mailbox and coming to a stop near a tree and parked SUV in the front yard of a home.
Officials at the scene said the man either fell asleep at the wheel or suffered an unknown medical emergency just before the crash, which happened on N. Stanford St. at Walnut Park Way in Hemet.
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City of Hemet Police and Fire Departments, along with AMR medics, responded to the accident at 1:35 p.m., after receiving reports of the injury collision. 911 callers told emergency dispatchers that an elderly man and sole occupant of the truck was unconscious and unresponsive.
Officials are investigating after an elderly man either fell asleep at the wheel or suffered a medical emergency and hit a power pole in Hemet earlier this afternoon. Robert Carter/Public Safety Incidents photo
By the time officials arrived just minutes later, the victim was awake and alert and had complaints of pain. He was evaluated at the scene before AMR transported him to Hemet Valley Hospital for further treatment.
According to witnesses, the man had been traveling south on Stanford when he suddenly accelerated and swerved from the roadway, jumping a curb along the west side of Stanford. The truck then struck an electrical pole, mowed down a private mailbox, and came to rest next to a tree in the front yard of a home.
Area residents who heard the crash rushed out of their homes to check on the driver and called 911 to report the crash and victim’s condition.
Officer’s investigating the accident summoned Southern California Edison to the scene to assess and repair the damaged, which was knocked loose and left leaning after the crash.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation, but officials do not suspect intoxication to have been a contributing factor.
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Robert Carter/Public Safety Incidents video
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Trevor Montgomery, 47, recently moved to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle, and Anza Valley Outlook; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and The Mountain Echo in Shasta County.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 14 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.