Release Date/Time: 4/17/2015 8:30 AM
Incident: Update on fatal traffic collision
Report #: 15-031369
Date: Friday, 4/17/2015
Time: 8:09 AM
Location: East Market Street and Kern Street
On March 26th at about 1409 hours, Rogelio Vasquez, 33, was riding his bicycle eastbound on East Market Street just east of Kern Street. He was riding on the south sidewalk when Anthony Martinez made a right turn in front of Vasquez into the driveway of the Shell gas station . Vasquez went down to the pavement and was run over by the rear tires of the truck. He sustained major internal injuries and died from the collision.
The investigation showed that Vasquez, the bicyclist, had a high level of methamphetamine in his system. His bicycle was examined and found to have no functioning brakes whatsoever. The bicycle had no damage from the collision showing that Vasquez was forced to lay the bike down to try and avoid the collision. He then slid underneath the truck where he was run over. The Salinas Police Department Traffic Unit found Vasquez most responsible for the collision for driving under the influence of methamphetamine and not having functioning brakes on the bicycle. The traffic officers did not feel there was sufficient culpability on the part of Martinez to request criminal charges.
Release Authorized by: Gerard Ross
Telephone: (831) 758-7250