A suspected drunken driver crashed an SUV into a power pole alongside an East County street Thursday, knocking out electrical service to a nearby primary school and hundreds of surrounding homes and businesses, authorities reported.
The motorist was headed northeast on Madera Street in Lemon Grove about 6:45 a.m. when the green Kia SUV he was driving veered off the roadway near Massachusetts Avenue and hit the utility standard, shearing it off the ground, according to sheriff’s officials.
The accident left the broken pole hanging from overhead transmission lines and cut off power to about 1,225 addresses in the general vicinity, including at San Altos Elementary School and as in parts of Emerald Hills, Encanto and Valencia Park.
Deputies responding to the crash found Roderick Lee Aldridge, 30, and a person who had been riding in the Kia walking away from the wreckage, sheriff’s Sgt. Kurt Cartie said. Both were uninjured.
Aldridge was arrested on suspicion of DUI and hit-and-run. He was booked into San Diego Central Jail, where he was being held on $2,500 bail pending arraignment, scheduled for Monday.
Due to the outage, the Madera Street elementary school went into a minimum-day session, according to campus officials.
Power was restored to the area by early afternoon, San Diego Gas & Electric reported.
Updated at 1:45 p.m. December 20, 2018
–City News Service
