Just one hour later on Fiddletown Rd, Jodie Gillaspie of Jackson also tried to avoid hitting a deer and instead drove her 2004 Ford F-250 off of a soft embankment which gave way under the weight of the truck. The truck rolled 30 feet down a steep embankment and collided with a tree. Gillaspie suffered minor injuries.
The first DUI related accident of the weekend when 21 year old Dominique Cavallini of Galt, along with her passenger Alex Aroz, 23 of Pioneer were involved in a solo vehicle accident on Hwy 88 just east of Nobb Hill Court. According to the report Cavallini’s level of intoxication impaired her from negotiating a left hand turn in the roadway causing the vehicle to leave the roadway and roll down an embankment. Neither Cavallini nor her passengers were wearing seatbelts and both were ejected from the car. Cavallini suffered moderate injuries and was arrested at the scene.
Later Saturday officer Cheryl Wilburn investigated two separate accidents involving the same driver. The first accident occurred when Eric Messersmith, 43 of Ione, was driving on Jackson Valley Rd just south of Hwy 88. Messersmith was unable to maintain his vehicle, a 1993 Dodge, on the roadway as he rounded a left-hand turn. Messersmith then ran off the roadway and into a barbed wire fence. He then continued on Jackson Valley Road dragging the fence hind him. And that was the cause of the second accident caused by Messersmith. As the drug the fence behind him he passed a cyclist. The wire from the fence wrapped around the rear fork of a bicycle driven by Gary Johnson, 60, of Stockton. This caused Johnson to fall to the ground. Again Messersmith continued driving without rendering aid to the victim or stopping.
Another driving under the influence accident was reported Saturday afternoon when according to the report written by officer Melissa Scobee, Amy Appleton 56 of Amador City was northbound on Hwy 49 just south of the Bypass when she allowed her vehicle to travel off the roadway and collide into a fence. After the initial collision Appleton fled the scene- however the accident was reported by another citizen to an Amador County Sheriff’s Deputy who located Appleton and called for an investigation. Appleton was then arrested by the CHP for DUI.