Power service to approximately 1,450 Turlock Irrigation District customers in southwest Ceres and Keyes was disrupted Wednesday evening when an alleged drunken driver veered off of Service Road and sheared off two power poles.
The crash was reported at 8:36 p.m.
The subcompact vehicle, a Kia Soul, was being driven westbound on Service Road and sailed off the road and down the embankment on the rise to the Highway 99 overpass, hitting poles and coming to rest on the north side where El Camino Avenue makes a curve. Initially dispatched as a possible pin-in, Modesto Fire Department responded and found no occupants while witnesses told police that the driver fled from the scene.
With his description and direction of travel, Ceres Police located Elton Castine, 33, of Modesto in the vicinity of Mitchell and Roeding roads. Castine’s breath registered a 0.12 percent blood alcohol content on the breathalyzer, which is over the legal limit to drive a vehicle which is 0.08 percent.
Castine was arrested and booked on charges of DUI and misdemeanor hit-and- run.