Family describes DUI suspect slamming SUV into Fresno apartment

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A young family is picking up the pieces after a DUI suspect crashed into their home as they prepared for Christmas celebrations.

Mathiew Zamora, his fiance Karina Vidrios, and their two children live at the Silver Lakes Apartment on Belmont and Minnewawa Avenues in east central Fresno.

Fresno police said an SUV crashed into their home around 1:30 Saturday morning.

"I heard that loud bang noise," said Karina Vidrios. "What I thought it was a light tower or a tornado or an earthquake or something like that. So immediately, my son comes onto me, and I hear screaming."

Vidrios described the moments the SUV burst through her apartment wall.

She had stayed up late baking in preparation for their early Christmas celebration the next day.

Her fiance, Mathiew Zamora, was asleep in their bedroom with their 3-month-old daughter in a bassinet next to their bed.

Zamora credits their headboard with saving their lives, protecting him and his daughter as the SUV pushed them across the room and preventing further damage.

"If it wasn't just for this, they probably would've drove straight through the kitchen to the other apartment," said Zamora.

Zamora said while he lay under the rubble, he heard terrifying noises from the car.

"You could hear the tires burning out," said Zamora. "She was trying to start the car, but it was already started."

While he says they're blessed to be alive and not hurt, it's hard not to think about what could have been.

Their 4-year-old son had been playing in the bedroom just minutes before the crash.

"My son was literally right there by the lights are at," said Vidrios. "That's where my vanity was against that wall. That's where my son usually goes to play, and he was there just five minutes before that accident."

A line of destruction: a knocked down sign, flattened bushes, and tire tracks lead up to the apartment.

30-year-old Patricia Gamez was allegedly behind the wheel of the SUV.

There were three passengers with her. At least two of them were minors who were taken to the hospital.

Gamez now faces felony charges of DUI - causing injury to others and endangering a child and misdemeanors for obstructing a public officer and driving without a license.

Her bail was set at more than $123,000.

The same night Gamez was arrested, Fresno police arrested nine other people at a checkpoint at Clovis and Lamona in East Central Fresno.

Police said being proactive with checkpoints can help prevent accidents like the one at Vidrios and Zamora's apartment or injuries and deaths.

They also want people to plan before they start drinking.

"Make the decision before you're impaired, and it's time to make the decision because when you are impaired, you might not make the right decision," said Ofc. Christopher Clark, Fresno Police. "So make it while you have a sober mind."

Vidrios is on maternity leave right now, and Zamora just started a new job, so the family is staying with other family members as they save for a new apartment and to replace all the items they lost.

They have a GoFundMe for anyone who would like to help.

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