DUI with two children in car, man crashes into pumps at Hemet gas station

HEMET — An allegedly intoxicated man was arrested after losing control of his vehicle and crashing into the pumps of a Hemet gas station Christmas eve, Dec. 24. The driver had two children in the car with him when he crashed, but the children were not injured in the collision.

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California Highway Patrol, Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department, and other emergency personnel, were dispatched to 7-Eleven gas station at the intersection of Florida Ave. and Meridian St. about 6:10 p.m., after receiving reports of the crash.

When officials arrived they found a red Honda Civic with heavy front-end damage that had plowed into a set of gas pumps after careening out of control, jumping a curb, and mowing down a set of bushes at the business. The driver of the car, later identified as 28-year-old Jon Ross Tomassetti, sustained a minor head injury in the crash and was treated at the scene by paramedics.

While officers interviewed Tomassetti they determined he was under the influence of alcohol and he was subsequently arrested after failing a series of field sobriety tests.

After his arrest, Tomassetti was booked into Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning on suspicion of DUI. Online jail records indicate he was released within hours of his arrest with a citation to appear at an unspecified court, Feb 27. He could face additional charges of child endangerment.

Nobody was using the pumps Tomassetti crashed into and there were no other reported injuries related to the collision.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 47, moved last year 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 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 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.