5 injured, driver arrested, after truck plows into popular Highland bar
HIGHLAND — An allegedly intoxicated man was arrested and four people were injured – with three hospitalized – after a pickup truck smashed into a car with a family before plowing into and through the rear wall of a popular Highland bar early Wednesday morning, March 20.
The crash, which caused major structural damage to the business, happened at Party Doll Bar in the 25600 block of E. Baseline St., near Alamo St.
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This morning’s crash occurred after firefighters responded to the area around 12:15 a.m, after receiving reports of a possible driver in distress, according to Cal Fire Highland Battalion Chief Grant Malinowski.
When they arrived at the scene and tried to make contact with the driver, later identified as 19-year-old, James Dailey, the man sped away, explained Malinowski.
Shocked firefighters watched as Dailey’s pickup truck first crashed into a telephone pole before smashing into an occupied BMW. The speeding truck then careened into and through the back wall of the open and occupied bar. About a dozen patrons were inside the bar when the truck plowed through it, according to the bar’s longtime owner, Connie Colugh.
While deputies were responding to the scene of the crash, firefighters extricated and began treating the victims from the BMW, which had three to four people inside, including at least two children. None of the BMW’s occupants were seriously injured and none required further medical treatment.
Dailey was transported to an area hospital with complaints of shoulder pain and other unspecified, but non-life threatening injuries. He was later arrested and charged with crimes related to the suspected DUI-related crash.
Three of the four bar patrons were also taken to area hospitals.
“It was just a bunch of dust and debris,” bartender Kelly Smith told KTLA 5 News after the crash. “It hit so hard … to me it felt like a bomb went off,” he said.
Although the damage to the Party Doll’s building was significant, Colugh – who has owned the bar for more than 30 years – assured her patrons that the bar would reopen as soon as possible.
“All of us here at The Party Doll would like to thank everyone for their concerns, We are all OK,” Colugh wrote on social media the morning of the accident. “The bar has been here for years, and we will be back in service as soon as we can.”
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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.
This is literally at the end of my street. I heard the crash that seemed to go on forever. Heard the FD siren activate immediately so I figured they had to be right there.