WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville man who died early Friday morning in a solo-vehicle crash on Amesti Road has been identified as Andres Garcia Vidal.
California Highway Patrol officer Sam Courtney said Vidal, 33, was driving a blue 1998 Volkswagen Beetle eastbound on Amesti Road east of Cypress Lane, at an unknown speed at 12:28am. CHP investigators believe Vidal made an “unsafe turning movement” and lost control of his car.
The VW careened off the south shoulder of Amesti Road and collided with a wood fence, and several trees, heavily damaging the car.
It wasn’t until around 9:30am that a citizen first spotted the wrecked VW on his front yard, Courtney said. A woman who lived at the property said she and her husband called 911 and feared that the victim was not alive. When the CHP arrived, they located Vidal—the only occupant of the car. American Medical Response medics pronounced him dead at the scene.
The VW tore out about 45 feet of a 6-foot-high fence before bashing into two redwood trees. The car then struck another tree and shattered the trunk, knocking the tree onto the lawn.
Alcohol and/or drugs have not been ruled out in the incident, Courtney said.
The crash is still under investigation.
