By John Coté
The San Francisco Chronicle
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A San Jose man was killed this morning in a high-speed chase with Santa Clara County deputies after his pickup slammed into an empty ethanol tanker truck, police said.
Jesus Loera, 21, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on East Santa Clara Street just beyond the Highway 101 overpass, San Jose police Sgt. Jason Dwyer said. The passenger in the pickup, a 22-year-old San Jose resident, was taken to Regional Medical Center of San Jose with undisclosed injuries. The person was not identified. The tanker truck driver was not hurt, police said.
The pursuit started after several residents on Cragmont Avenue and nearby streets in east San Jose called to report multiple vehicles doing doughnuts in the street and driving recklessly at about 5 a.m., Sheriff’s Sgt. Rick Sung said.
Deputies arrived and detained several people, but Loera’s white Ford F-150 pickup sped off, Sung said. Loera drove west on Alum Rock Avenue pursued by two sheriff’s cruisers, authorities said.
The sheriff’s office radioed San Jose police for assistance at 5:12 a.m., Dwyer said. Before police could join the pursuit, the crash occurred, he said.
Loera had been driving west on Alum Rock Avenue, which becomes East Santa Clara Street once it passes over Highway 101, when he came upon the tanker truck, which was making a wide turn, Dwyer said.
The truck “was in basically all of the lanes,” Dwyer said.
The pickup broadsided the larger truck in the tank area, shearing off the top portion of the pickup’s cab as the F150 went under the tanker truck and slammed into a building in the 1400 block of East Santa Clara Street, police said.
Copyright 2011 San Francisco Chronicle