Drunk Driver Causes Collisions in Belmont, San Mateo

A 35-year-old Redwood City man was arrested early Monday morning for DUI and hit and run after colliding with parked cars in Belmont and nearly colliding with a police car in San Mateo.

received multiple 9-1-1 calls at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Monday of an accident involving a truck that had collided with three parked cars in the 1200 block of North Road.

Upon arrival, officers found that the truck had fled after the collision, apparently being followed by a neighbor who had heard the collision.  In spite of major damage to both the 1993 Toyota pick-up he was driving, and the parked cars, the driver, Fernando Ramirez of Redwood City, was able to drive off, leaving a trail of debris.

A short time later, Ramirez almost became involved in another collision on 37th Avenue in San Mateo, were he nearly collided with an on-coming San Mateo police car, which was on an unrelated call. 

After narrowly missing the patrol car, Ramirez abandoned the truck in an alley off 37th Avenue just west of El Camino Real.  A short time later, Ramirez was located by San Mateo police, hiding in the front yard of a house a few blocks away. He was taken into custody without incident.

Ramirez was transported to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries. While at the hospital, Ramirez was cited by Belmont police for driving under the influence and hit and run.