Driver Arrested Following Los Gatos Fatality

A father on his way to physical therapy was struck and killed while riding his bike on a sidewalk in Los Gatos Monday morning.

 The Santa Clara County medical examiner's office has identified the victim as 28-year-old Joshua Ryan West.

Tuesday morning Los Gatos police announced the arrest of the man they say was behind the wheel of the sport utility vehicle that struck West.  Police arrested Kevin Derr, 50, for vehicular manslaughter.

Derr's s-u-v struck traveling east of Lark Avenue around 8:50 a.m., Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department Sgt. Kerry Harris said.

By the time police got there, a helpful bystander was performing CPR on West, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

West is a single father and had just dropped his daughter off at school prior to the crash and was going to a doctor appointment for a back problem when he was hit.

The driver of the Chevrolet suffered minor injuries when his car rolled over after the collision. He was transported to Valley Medical Center.  After he was arrested he was admitted to the custody ward of VMC.

A preliminary investigation based on witness statements and evidence at the scene indicates that the Chevrolet was in the No. 2 lane, then veered quickly to the right lane and drifted onto the sidewalk where it struck West at Garden Hill Drive, Harris said. The Chevrolet then hit a pedestrian safety barrier and continued across the intersection, hitting a  signal light and then finally flipping over on its side.

Harris said West was found next to the car, and it is possible he may have been either carried across the intersection by the car or thrown by the impact of the Chevrolet.

The crash is the second such incident in two days for Los Gatos.

Sunday, 23-year-old San Jose resident Aaron Vega died in a fatal crash around 2 a.m. at the intersection of Los Gatos Boulevard and Nino Avenue. He was sitting in the right front passenger seat of a black Ford  Mustang.

The driver, 23-year-old Timothy Priolo, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter after he lost control of the Mustang and crashed into the center divider on Los Gatos Boulevard. The car subsequently went  airborne before slamming into the ground, hitting a pole and then a tree, Harris said.

Priolo and two men who were sitting in the back were transported to a hospital.

Police determined that Priolo had been speeding and driving with a suspended license. The district attorney's office has not yet filed charges against him.
 

Bay City News

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