COARSEGOLD – It was an all too familiar scene last night on Road 415 at Trabuco. Another driver arrested for felony DUI, another victim airlifted to the hospital in critical condition.
At 6:28 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 22, Jonathan Olmedo, 32, of Coarsegold was westbound on Road 415 just before the Trabuco turnoff when, due to his high level of intoxication, he allowed his 2005 Honda Civic to drift across the center line, crashing head-on into another car, says the CHP.
Keith Dion, 26, of Hilmar, was the driver of that other car, headed eastbound in a 2005 Ford Focus. The force of the impact demolished both cars, and both drivers were pinned in their vehicles.
Fire crews worked for nearly an hour, using the jaws of life to extract Dion from his vehicle. He was then airlifted by Skylife to Community Regional Medical Center with serious injuries.
Olmedo is a paramedic with American Ambulance in Fresno, and the CHP says he was under the influence of an “excessive amount of alcohol.” He was traveling at an unknown rate of speed when he smashed into Dion’s car.
According to the CHP, Olmedo was arrested for felony DUI causing injuries, and due to his own extensive injuries, was released from custody into the care of medical personnel at Community Regional Medical Center.
Madera County Fire and Cal Fire engines responded to the scene, along with CHP and Sierra Ambulance.
You would think an EMT would be smarter than that. There goes his career. Idiot! You deserve everything that is about to come into your life.
That’s a pretty crappy thing to say. I agree, he should not have been driving under the influence, and he should be punished by the law. But you have no idea what he and his family are going through right now. We all make mistakes, some bigger than others. He and his family still deserve our prayers.
If the drunk driver was not drinkin’ at home, Investigators need to find out the location of the fine establishment that was the last to serve these drunk drivers. If it was at a party, the host of the party has some liability, if I am not mistaken. Investigators, journalists, newspapers – please post the names of restaurants or bars, if these people were served in their establishments prior to their DUI. Start shutting these places down, if they continue to serve drunk people.
It makes no difference what he and his family are going through. It is not ok to impact others lives in this manner.
We all know Omedo was at his co-worker’s house he might have even been his boss. Who ever’s house he was at drinking should have made sure he got home in a cab, or had him stay there in that home and notify Omedo’s family he was staying. Lets pray for both of these men and keep our harsh comments to ourselves.
Thank you t.p. – I agree 100% with you. I know this family and all I am asking is that people pray for them too. And to Joe – it absolutely DOES matter what his family is going through. Shame on you for saying something so harsh.
First of all, Jonathan is not an idiot. He is an awesome kind hearted person. He is a paramedic x2 and also a firefighter. So before you judge anybody make sure you know them. I’m sure when he’s risking his life to save others, maybe even yours, you’d appreciate a person like him. Thompson deserves a prayer for his dark heart. His family as well as him are all struggling, no body deserves to suffer under any circumstances. It was an accident. The accident is still under investigation, so please don’t be as naive to believe what media says especially when that is all you are going by. We are extremely sorry to the other person who got hit and hope he heals quickly. Jonathan would never hurt anybody intentionally and he didnt choose to crash. Everything always happens for a reason. We pray for all people affected by this event.
K. Thompson, you are in my prayers as well, for you can hurt people just as much with your mouth. I pray to God to keep you from ever being in a situation like the one we are in. No one should ever see someone they love so much in so much pain, regardless of how they got there. I would trade places with my brother in a heart beat. The doctors, who are still fighting every day to keep him alive, are treating him just like any other patient, just as my brother has treated many patients regardless of who was at fault. At the moment, my brother can’t reply on your hurtful comment, but one thing I can assure you; he would risk his life to save yours, with out hesitation, even if he knew you wished him harm. The accident is still under investigation, so why would you start making your own conclusions. Jonathan is surrounded by good people, so all those things you say that are about to come into his life will be nothing but blessings. God bless you.
The fact remains that a person made a very bad decision to drink and drive and blatantly disregarded the safety of others. I am sure he is a great guy but unfortunately my nephew was the innocent victim of this decision. He is only 26 years old and faces months maybe years of rehab, cant work,finacially devastated with all the medical bills,cant not take care of his baby girl that by the way he had just dropped of 5 min earlier, I could go on and on. This has affected so many lives just because someone did not get a ride home. Please do not DRINK AND DRIVE!!!
For Jonathan’s Brother: The statement, “you are in my prayers as well, for you can hurt people just as much with your mouth”, is grossly inaccurate. No – you cannot torpedo someone’s body, with the force of a car traveling at about 40 to 50 mph, and cause multiple fractures, blow out organs, and cause brain damage with one’s mouth. You are mistaken. You are kidding yourself. And as for keeping harsh comments to one’s self; well – perhaps maybe people who continue (yes, I said continue) to make stuipd DUI “mistakes” (they are not mistakes, but deliberate decision to drink & drive) would STOP doing this, if more people got fed up, and stop enabling friends and family members.
Bob, YOUR face is grossly inaccurate! And as for this comment trend, it’s starting to turn into an annoying, never ending, back and forth argument. Which is probably what Mr. Thompson, all the way at the bottom, who I wouldn’t be surprised works for this website, wanted in the first place. Good job Thompson!
Accidents happen, yes I said accidents (and its not grooosssss BOB!), and challenges are presented. It is up to the two families to figure out how they are going to overcome them. Lets all learn something very valuable from this horrific incident, and lets move on.
Best of luck and wishes to both families!
And yes please, don’t drink and drive.
Also, (I wish they would make it a law) please don’t let anyone drink and drive! If you were to see some one putting a gun to their own head, ready to pull the trigger, I’m pretty sure you would try to stop them.