At about 11:13pm Sunday, Turlock Police responded to a hit-and-run in progress in the 300 block of E. Hawkeye Avenue.
A few different callers reported an either a brown, gray, or white lifted pickup truck was trying to leave the scene while missing a tire after hitting several parked vehicles.
When officers arrived on scene, they found that the pickup had left and three vehicles were left at the scene. All three vehicles had been parked and unoccupied.
Witnesses stated that the pickup had been last seen in the area of N. Denair Avenue and Wayside Drive heading southbound, but officers were initially unable to locate it when they checked the area.
Another witness then stated that the pickup had pulled into an address in the 900 block of N. Denair Avenue. Officer Khounlivong responded there and located the pickup under a carport on the property. It had now also hit another parked vehicle, this one later being learned to belong to the pickup driver’s son.
The pickup was unoccupied, however, officers located and contacted its driver on the property. She was identified as Lucero Avalos, 48, of Turlock.
While speaking with Avalos, Khounlivong noticed she was displaying objective symptoms of being under the influence, so he asked her if she’d be willing to participate in standardized field sobriety tests. Avalos agreed and completed the tests, but performed poorly on them.
Khounlivong had explained to Avalos that for the one-leg stand test, she needed to hold one of her feet about six inches off the ground until he told her to stop. Instead, Avalos turned it into a hybrid of that and the walk-and-turn test.
Based on the totality of the circumstances, Khounlivong determined Avalos was under the combined influence of alcohol and drugs. She was arrested.
Avalos was issued a driver’s license suspension order and then transported to Doctors Medical Center to provide a blood sample for her chemical test required by California’s implied consent law.
Afterward, Avalos was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a blood alcohol content of .08% or greater, driving under the influence of drugs, and driving under the combined influence of alcohol and drugs.
Additionally, Avalos’ vehicle was towed.
Back at the scene of the original collision, Officer Ward was unable to get ahold of the owner of all three vehicles. Avalos’ son who was home was notified of the damage to his vehicle caused by his mother.
