A man was recovering Wednesday after his impromptu driving lesson
ended abruptly with his Ford van driving up an embankment, into a
yard and lodging in a tree.
Julio Chavez, 37, was taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital in
Pasadena Tuesday with a possible broken leg after the van he was
learning to drive became wedged into a pine tree in a yard on
Pineridge Drive just south of Brierhaven Drive, California Highway
Patrol Officer Vince Bell said. Chavez apparently became confused
between the gas and brake pedal, he said.
It was not known Wednesday what city Chavez lived in because he
spoke very little English, Bell said.
Chavez had driven the van into the tree with such force that he
became trapped by the steering wheel, Bell said. The passenger
teaching him to drive was not wearing his seat belt and received
minor injuries. A third passenger, who was wearing his seat belt, was
uninjured, Bell said.
Los Angeles County Fire and Los Angeles City Fire departments
responded with a crane to lift the van off the embankment, onto the
street, in order to cut Chavez out of the van.
Darleene Barrientos
