Santa Cruz police respond to two overnight DUI crashes

Santa Cruz police say two drivers were arrested on DUI charges after back-to-back crashes early Tuesday morning.

The crashes happened just before 1 a.m. The first crash happened on the 500 block of Walnut Avenue. When officers arrived, they found a van that had hit a parked car, a parking sign and a power pole. It hit the power pole hard enough to shear it from its base.

There were no significant injuries, but the driver, 44-year-old Christopher Rodgers from Santa Cruz, was arrested for DUI charges and booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail.

While officers were still at the scene of the crash on Walnut Avenue, they got a report of a car driving across the East Cliff Trestle. Officers said they went to the trestle and saw a car trying to drive over it. They said the driver made it across, but then the sight of the train tracks going into the darkness scared the driver and passenger. Officers said the driver reversed the car and backed onto the bridge, nearly going over the edge and into the water. A pillar stopped the car from going off the bridge.

The driver, 25-year-old William Araya from South Gate, was arrested for DUI charges.