Stevinson resident Babette Gamel is profoundly perplexed at how a relatively minor automotive collision involving her 17-year-old daughter and an unknown mid-20’s Hispanic male could create such a headache. She is asking for the public’s help in determining who collided with her daughter in the accident.
According to Gamel, her daughter was involved in a traffic accident between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 5 at the intersection of Golden State Boulevard and Olive Avenue in Turlock. She says her daughter was driving northbound on Golden State Boulevard towards the AM/PM station when a tan or brown four-door truck improperly switched lanes without a blinker, causing her daughter, who was in the opposite lane, to collide with the truck.
According to Gamel her daughter and the driver of the truck pulled over in front of the AM/PM gas station and when her daughter attempted to obtain the driver's information the driver refused to supply a California driver’s license. She says her daughter, being 17, was unaware of the proper procedure following a traffic accident and accepted the driver’s refusal. The driver supplied only a insurance card of a Hispanic male in their mid 50's to early 60's. The name on the insurance card did not match the description of the driver Gamel’s daughter had reported.
According to Gamel, her daughter says an unidentified Hispanic female in her mid-to-late 20’s was the passenger in the vehicle, along with two small children in the rear of the 4-door truck.
Gamel explained that the incident could cause her daughter’s insurance rates to increase and she believes deception was involved. “My daughter was shaken by this and she is just a twig of a thing. She didn’t know what to do. The owner of the vehicle filed a claim with the insurance company; however, the owner is in his 50's and the driver was in his 20's,” she said.
Gamel says she attempted to obtain surveillance footage from AM/PM but when she asked for the tape the clerk at the gas station did not speak English and did not understand the question.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Gamel on Facebook at www.facebook.com/babette.gamel.
