[Njagdu] Disaster averted in downtown San Rafael when Guide Dogs trio escape car on sidewalk - Marin Independent Journal

[Ginger Kutsch]

Disaster averted in downtown San Rafael when Guide Dogs trio escape car on
sidewalk - Marin Independent Journal

http://www.marinij.com/sanrafael/ci_23439366/disaster-averted-downtown-san-r
afael-when-guide-dogs

 

A mid-morning stroll in downtown San Rafael nearly turned disastrous when a
93-year-old woman drove backward down a sidewalk, narrowly missing two
employees and a dog from Guide Dogs for the Blind.

 

"It was just an unbelievable sight to see something going backwards,
barreling down the sidewalk," said Todd Jurek, a training supervisor for
Guide Dogs for the Blind. He quickly herded the fellow employee and dog out
of harm's way when he noticed the dog jerk its head to look behind them.

 

The dramatic scene, captured on video by a private security camera mounted
on a nearby building, can be viewed at www.marinij.com.

 

The incident occurred at about 11:30 a.m. Monday, when Jurek and Danielle
Alvarado, an apprentice instructor, were walking on Fourth Street near E
Street with an 18-month-old yellow Labrador retriever, O'Neil.

 

Jurek, 48, of Petaluma, said he was spotting Alvarado, who was blindfolded,
and assessing O'Neil's guide dog skills when he noticed O'Neil turn around
to look behind him. When Jurek looked back to see what had caught O'Neil's
attention, he saw a black car headed straight for them.

 

The surveillance video shows the three walking down Fourth and then Jurek
running and pushing Alvarado around an E Street corner seconds before a
black car speeds backwards down the sidewalk, smashing a store window and
finally coming to rest on the opposite corner of Fourth and E streets.

 

Jurek said he heard the glass window break, but it was O'Neil who turned his
head first to see what was happening.

 

"He probably heard the commotion before the window popped," Jurek said.

 

As the car tore down the sidewalk, it hit a city bench, nicked a stop light
and barely missed colliding with another car. Jurek said he just grabbed
Alvarado and yelled "go, go, go!" as one of the car's doors came off and
pieces of the vehicle flew everywhere.

 

"My thought was, is this car going to continue around the corner and are its
debris going to fly at us?" Jurek said.

 

Miraculously, no one was injured in the incident, including the driver and
her passenger, Jurek said.

 

San Rafael police Sgt. Raul Aguilar said the driver of the car, a San Rafael
resident, is not suspected of intoxication and did not appear to have a
medical emergency before the incident. 

 

The investigation is continuing, but the preliminary theory is that the
woman put the car in reverse instead of forward, and the angle of the wheels
sent her up on the sidewalk, Aguilar said.

 

The police department is requesting a reexamination of the woman by the
Department of Motor Vehicles.

 

Jurek, who has worked for Guide Dogs for 21 years, called 

 

the incident a one-in-a-million event in which both the dog and handler
responded correctly - with O'Neil turning back around to help move Alvarado
out of harm's way, and Alvarado not letting go of the dog's leash.

 

"You can't train a dog for such a dramatic incident," Jurek said. 

 

O'Neil underwent additional traffic training and testing Tuesday, just to
confirm he wasn't traumatized by the incident. Jurek said the courageous
canine is in the midst of his final testing and will soon be protecting one
of the Guide Dog's blind or sight-impaired clients. 

 

"He'll get placed with someone likely in the next two or three weeks," Jurek
said. 

 

Contact Megan Hansen via email at mhansen at marinij.com or via Twitter at
http://twitter.com/hansenmegan

 

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