(A large crew from Pacific Gas and Electric are on hand Monday to repair power lines above Walker Street following a late Sunday night car crash. Photo by Tarmo Hannula/Pajaronian)
WATSONVILLE — A car that smashed into a power pole on West Sixth Street late Sunday night left 542 customers without power.
Pacific Gas and Electric spokesperson Mayra Tostado said that around 11:45 p.m. Sunday, PG&E was notified of the widespread outage caused by the crash.
Watsonville Police spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said an 18-year-old woman in a black BMW plowed into the utility pole while traveling northbound on Walker Street. She walked away from the crash uninjured.
The impact severed the large pole from the ground at the base and shoved it several feet. However, attached power lines kept the pole upright.
There were no visible skid marks at the scene, which leads officials to believe the pole stopped the car.
Police say that alcohol or drugs do not appear to have played a role in the crash. The woman reportedly told police that she blacked out moments before the crash, Pulido said.
A BMW four-door is shown with major damage Sunday night after it smashed into a utility pole on Walker Street at West Sixth Street just before midnight. Contributed photo
PG&E crews worked with first responders to make the area safe and brought in additional crews to assess damage to electric utilities.
PG&E crews worked through the night to remove power lines that were knocked down and scheduled a pole replacement job to restore power.
By 1:30 a.m. power was restored to 476 customers, Tostado said, while crews continued working on repairs to restore customers whose power was delivered by the damaged equipment.
As of 4 p.m. Monday, PG&E crews continued on work to replacing the fallen wires and broken power pole.
Workers had to shut down a section of Walker Street, between Ford and East Fifth streets in both directions throughout Monday to complete the work.
“We appreciate our customers’ patience while we work to turn the lights back on and urge customers with any questions to call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000,” Tostado said.
The incident is still under investigation.
