Editor’s note: This article was updated to include information from a Hollister Police Department press release. Last updated on Sept. 28 at 1:20 p.m.
At approximately 7:38 p.m. on Sept. 27, PG&E crews responded to an outage caused by a vehicle that crashed into a power pole on Sunnyslope Road, between Clearview Drive and Highland Drive, in Hollister, according to PG&E spokesperson Mayra Tostado.
She said the incident knocked out power to 834 customers and caused extensive damage to electric equipment in the area. PG&E crews worked with first responders to make the area safe and have been working “around the clock to complete repairs.”
Sunnyslope Road remained closed as of 11:30 a.m. as crews were still working early in the morning Sept. 28.
According to a press release by the Hollister Police Department, Zack Rigo Rodriguez, 28, the driver of the vehicle, was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI). It adds that Rigo Rodriguez suffered “superficial injuries.”
Tostado said power was restored to 368 customers by 9:34 p.m., with another 365 additional customers restored by 10:35 p.m. Through the remainder of the night power was restored to all but five of the remaining customers. However, power went down for four minutes at 10:28 a.m. on Sept. 28.
Work is expected to wrap up by early afternoon with power fully restored to the last five customers by noon, Tostado said.
Coincidentally, the accident was at the same location where Manuel Martinez Vazquez lost control of his vehicle on June 20 and struck Sarah Villar and her fiancé Tayler Schmitt. Villar died at the scene and Schmitt was temporarily hospitalized.
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