A police motorcycle officer from California Highway Patrol is recovering after being struck by a suspected drunken driver following a friendly international between Mexico and Chile at Levi’s Stadium – home of the San Francisco 49ers.
Officer John Darling was escorting Mexico’s national football team back to its team hotel in San Jose when a silver Mercedes-Benz crossed a double yellow line and headed straight for him. Darling tried to avoid the impact by turning right but was struck by the car and thrown onto the roadway.
The car, driven by 30-year-old Gerardo Gonzalez Corona, continued driving after striking the officer and had to be pulled over a short distance later after being followed by other officers. One of the passengers in the Mercedes told police he and his friends had attended the match and were leaving the stadium.
Darling was taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries. Corona was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence while causing injury, being involved in a hit-and-run collision causing injury, driving a vehicle while unlicensed and failing to provide insurance at the scene of a collision. The collision remains under investigation.
