More than 300 people were without power Friday in the Mesa area of Santa Barbara after a suspected drunken driven knocked down a power pole.
Emergency personnel were dispatched at about 5:45 a.m. to the area of Meigs Road and Dolores Avenue, according to Capt. Kevin Bryant of the Santa Barbara City Fire Department.
The driver of a Ford F-350 pickup was headed down Meigs when he slammed into the utility pole, Bryant said.
“He center-punched it with the front of his truck,” Bryant said, “but he didn’t stop there.”
The motorist continued down the roadway before slamming into a oak tree on the side of the road near Dolores Avenue, Bryant said.
Police and firefighters quickly arrived on scene.
The driver, whose name was not released, claimed he was uninjured, Bryant said, and police began testing him for possible DUI.
At that point, the driver got into an altercation with officers, and had to be subdued, Bryant said.
He was arrested.
As of 8:30 a.m., Southern California Edison Co. indicated the power outage was affecting 325 customers.
Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
Driver Arrested After Vehicle Crashes Into Power Pole on Meigs Road in Santa Barbara Urban Hikers video from Noozhawk on Vimeo.
