A Turlock man trying to leave the scene of one collision, hit two more vehicles and tried to flee a pursuing officer before his car stalled due to damage from the previous crashes, the Turlock Police Department reported.
The chain of collisions began around 2 p.m. Monday in the area of W. Monte Vista Avenue and Countryside Drive. The suspect in all three collisions was identified as Fernando Aguilar, 19.
Aguilar was driving a green Honda westbound on Monte Vista Avenue when he swerved into a lane behind a vehicle that was stopped at a traffic light. The maneuver caused Aguilar to rear-end the vehicle, but instead of stopping at the scene, he attempted to leave by backing up his vehicle, which is when he struck another vehicle that was pulling up to the traffic light.
Aguilar made a U-turn and headed eastbound on Monte Vista in the westbound lanes, driving against traffic, Turlock Police spokesperson Officer Mayra Lewis said.
Aguilar turned the Honda into the parking lot of 2705 W. Monte Vista. According to the police report, he sped through the parking lot and pulled out into the intersection of Countryside Drive and Hotel Drive, which is when he lost control of the Honda and broadsided another vehicle, Lewis said.
All of the collisions happened within a time span that was about one minute. A Turlock Police officer was in the area and spotted Aguilar trying to drive away from the third collision. The officer activated his lights and sirens and attempted to pull Aguilar over, but the suspect made a U-turn and drove back into the parking lot.
Aguilar briefly stopped the car near the Chevron gas station, then restarted it and tried to drive off again. The vehicle had sustained significant damage from the three wrecks and Aguilar was only able to make in onto W. Monte Vista Avenue before the car stalled, Lewis said.
He was taken into custody without further incident.
Two people in the last vehicle hit by Aguilar sustained non-life threatening injuries and were transported by ambulance to an area hospital.
Aguilar was booked into the Stanislaus County Jail on a felony charge of hit and run and a misdemeanor charge of fleeing a peace officer.
