Did You Lose Power This Morning, Santa Cruz? Here's Why ...

An unlicensed driver was arrested this morning in Santa Cruz on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol after police said he crashed his SUV into a utility pole, causing around 1,200 PG&E customers to lose power.

Just before midnight Thursday, Santa Cruz police responded to a call about a one-car crash into a power pole on Soquel Avenue at Forest Avenue, police Lt. Bernie Escalante said.

Officers arrived to find the driver, 41-year-old Jose Antonio Ramirez Diaz, at the scene suffering from minor injuries inside his 2002 Chevy Tahoe SUV, Escalante said.

The SUV had sheared the pole from its base and the pole was left hanging by the attached electrical wires overhead. Police placed Diaz, who declined medical treatment, under arrest this morning on suspicion of driving without a driver’s license while under the influence of alcohol.

An estimated 1,200 PG&E customers lost electrical power temporarily due to the collision.

Police shut down traffic on part of Soquel so that PG&E employees could begin to repair the pole.

--Bay City News

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