DUI Driver Who Crashed into Special Ed Class Avoids Further Jail Time

Images show the scene in San Mateo on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014 after a car hit four pedestrians. Courtesy: D. Clark

By Bay City News Service

A man who crashed his car into several special education students and their teacher on a field trip in San Mateo last September avoided further jail time when he was sentenced in Redwood City on Wednesday, prosecutors said.

John Zborowski, 54, pleaded no contest last month to DUI causing great bodily injury on the condition he receive no more than two years in prison.

Judge Leland Davis sentenced him to a year in jail Wednesday, but his sentence is already complete as he has 504 days credit for time served, San Mateo County Deputy District Attorney Karen Guidotti said.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Man Pleads No Contest to DUI Crash that Injured Special Education Students and Teacher
• Prosecutors Allege DUI in San Mateo Sidewalk Crash that Injured Teacher, Students
• Three Special Needs Students Among Those Hit by Car in San Mateo

The Sept. 10 crash injured three special education students, ages 15, 16 and 18, and seriously injured their 28-year-old teacher.

They were part of a group of 15 students and five teachers from Hillsdale High School who were on a walking field trip in the 300 block of West Hillside Boulevard to teach the students life skills.

As they were walking at 11:17 a.m., Zborowski, who was driving west on West Hillside, veered off the road, jumped the curb and plowed into the group.

The teacher, a Belmont resident, suffered head trauma, broken ribs and broken legs. The students’ injuries were less severe, mainly lacerations and abrasions.

Police found Zborowski still at the collision scene passed out behind the wheel of his car. He remained free for two months but was arrested after the police investigation determined he was under the influence of prescription drugs.

In addition to the jail time, Zborowski was also sentenced to five years’ probation, ordered to complete a residential drug treatment program and has to pay the victims over $11,000 in restitution, Guidotti said.