On Saturday, December 19th, 2020, at approximately 1:10 pm, the Turlock Police Department received a call of a vehicle collision with a vehicle into the canal across the street from the Taylor Veterinary Hospital located at 1231 W Taylor Rd. Turlock Police officers were dispatched along with American Medical Response and the Turlock Fire Department with Battalion 4, Squad 32, and Engine 34.
Officers arrived on scene just before 1:15 pm and located the vehicle, a yellow 2001 Ford Mustang, into the waterless canal, with its driver out of the vehicle standing on the south side of the canal. Officers asked the driver to come onto their side, however, he failed to comply with their orders. Eventually, they were able to get him to their side and further question him.
Engine 34 arrived on scene a short time later. Captain 34 assumed command and put Engine 34 in the investigation mode. Captain 34 asked for Turlock Irrigation District to respond due to damage caused to a power pole that was struck which caused a power outage in the area. At the time of writing this, power has still not been restored. 1,039 TID customers in northwest Turlock are without power and power is expected to remain out until at least 8:00 pm. Crews are currently on scene making repairs.
The driver refused medical attention, so American Medical Response was cleared. The driver did however show signs of intoxication, so officers asked if he would be willing to participate in field sobriety tests, which he refused. He was at that point placed under arrest. He was transported to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto to provide a sample of his blood, which he refused, however, a search warrant for it was authored and approved by the on-call Superior Court judge. After a blood sample was obtained, he was transported to the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center where he was booked for driving under the influence and driving while suspended.
He has been identified as Gabriel Toledo, 32, of Modesto. Toledo is no stranger to getting in trouble and has a history of driving under the influence, driving while suspended, possession of a stolen vehicle, domestic violence, vandalism, and a bunch of other minor traffic violations. Toledo’s license is also currently suspended and he is on probation for driving under the influence.
