Early in the morning last week, a man driving a white Chevrolet on the I-5 crashed into a guardrail just north of Templin Highway. After the collision, the man continued driving south on the 5, weaving in and out of traffic. A witness reported the collision to CHP officers who caught up with the man in Castaic, near the Lake Hughes exit.
The man, William Henry Russell Jr. of Santa Cruz, was charged with driving under the influence and hit-and-run – that is, until after CHP officers searched his vehicle and discovered 84 pounds of packaged marijuana.
In cases like this, which involve a traffic collision, suspects are often first transported to a hospital for medical clearance before being taken to jail. In the Case of Mr. Russell Jr., he was taken to Henry Mayo Municipal Hospital before being booked at the SCV Sheriff Station as charged. He is currently being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
The point to remember in this blog is that, even though Henry Russell Jr. hit a guard rail, he was still charged with a hit-and-run. Motorists must always stop and report a collision even if they’re the only car involved. Granted, the 84 pounds of Marijuana in his truck certainly made his unwillingness to encounter law enforcement understandable, but nonetheless illegal.
