A female pedestrian died Saturday night after she was hit by a pickup truck near the Gilroy Sports Park.
At 1:20 p.m., police responded to an accident on Monterey Road near Monterey Frontage Road and found Margaret Garza, 45, of Gilroy lying on the pavement in the roadway. She suffered severe, life-threatening injuries from being struck by the truck, Sgt. Jim Gillio said. Emergency personnel transported her by air ambulance to an area trauma center where she died later that evening.
After a preliminary investigation, police do not believe the driver of the truck, who waited at the scene until police arrived, was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the collision. Police would not release information about the driver or how many people were in the truck. The driver was not injured and was released from the scene pending further investigation.
"We still need to do a full investigation to determine who was at fault," Gillio said. "We won't know that (whether the driver will be charged) until the investigation is completed."
Police did not know what Garza was doing in the area of the accident. She didn't live nearby, Gillio said.
The Gilroy Police Department Major Accident Investigation Team is currently investigating the cause of the collision and will not release additional information.
"These investigations are labor intensive and require meticulous attention to detail," said Sgt. Joseph Deras.
Sara Suddes Sara Suddes covers Gilroy for South Valley Newspapers. You can email her or call (408) 847-7158.
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