A man suspected of crashing a vehicle while intoxicated into a Hamilton Drive house in 2018 was arrested in November on suspicion of being under the influence of cocaine and battery on a peace officer.
Prosecutors haven’t charged Joel B. Ledesma, 39, for the suspected DUI crash into a home. The case has been delayed while the district attorney’s office awaits results of additional investigative work from the Hollister Police Department.
In the most recent incident, while Ledesma awaits possible charges for the 2018 arrest, he is accused of being under the influence of cocaine, illegally possessing codeine, battery on a police officer, and resisting arrest, according to court records.
Prosecutors filed the four misdemeanor charges Feb. 2. He faces arraignment for those charges March 10 before Judge Steven Sanders.
Hollister police on Dec. 10 of 2018 arrested Joel B. Ledesma, now age 39, after the driver crashed into a house at 1293 Hamilton Drive while suspected to be intoxicated. That happened while he had been on probation for a 2016 driving under the influence case, according to court records obtained by San Benito Live.Â
Hooper in a previous email noted how after that arrest, her office sent the case back to the Hollister Police Department for further investigation. The HPD has yet to return the report to the D.A. on the 2018 matter.
The statute of limitations to file charges for suspected misdemeanor crimes is one year and it’s three years for felonies, Hooper confirmed. Hollister police after the arrest recommended charges of felony drunk driving and drug charges.Â
As for Ledesma’s criminal history in San Benito County, in October 2017 he pleaded no contest to DUI and carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle connected to an October 2016 arrest. He was sentenced to 20 days in county jail and a fine of $2,552 with the plea, according to court records. He was also sentenced to three years of probation.
According to a statement released by Hollister police in December 2018 regarding the crash:
At 6:24 p.m. Dec. 10, officers were dispatched to 1293 Hamilton Drive after receiving a report that a vehicle had crashed into a residence.
When officers arrived they found a vehicle struck the residence. The speeding vehicle went through a wall on the west side of the house, and the front end of the vehicle came to rest in one of the home’s bedrooms. A witness who resides in the house described the impact as an explosion. No one in the house was injured as a result of the crash.
Ledesma was found a short distance from the residence with a leg injury, police reported at the time. There was one passenger in the vehicle at the time of the collision who was flown to a trauma center for treatment.
As officers were interviewing Ledesma, they noted he was showing signs of intoxication. Field sobriety tests revealed a high level of intoxication, while drugs were also located inside the vehicle, police alleged. Ledesma was transported to a local hospital where he was treated for injuries during the collision.
