Driver who hit Citrus Heights power pole arrested for DUI, hit & run

Citrus Heights police said a 26-year-old was arrested after he crashed his vehicle into a power pole on Antelope Road late Tuesday and then tried to flee the scene. The collision resulted in thousands of homes in the area temporarily losing power for up to three hours.

In an email statement to The Sentinel late Wednesday, Officer Wesley Herman said police responded to a reported solo-vehicle collision with a power pole on the 7000 block of Antelope Road around 11:30 p.m., with responding officers finding the driver of the vehicle “fleeing from the scene of the accident.”

Herman said the driver was “actively defiant with officers during their instructions, but was eventually detained.”

The driver, identified by police as Andrew Tolbert of Sacramento, was subsequently arrested for DUI, hit-and-run collision, “resisting/delaying/obstructing a public officer,” and violating probation, according to Officer Herman. Police said Tolbert was on probation for domestic battery, resisting arrest, burglary, and several other offenses.

After police said he was “medically cleared,” Tolbert was taken to the Sacramento County main jail. Herman said the driver “sustained minor superficial wounds during the time he was resisting arrest.”

[follow text=”Get news updates:”]

According to SMUD’s online outage map, more than 16,000 customers in the Citrus Heights area lost power at 11:33 p.m. on Tuesday, apparently from the collision. A SMUD truck arrived shortly after midnight and could be seen shining a light on the pole, which was leaning over towards Antelope Road, although still mostly upright.

Residents on Mariposa Avenue and some other areas reported having their power restored by around 12:20 a.m. Wednesday, and most others had power back on by 2:30 a.m., according to SMUD’s website.

See prior story for additional photos and comment from a witness: “Vehicle hits power pole; 16,000 Citrus Heights residents lose power”