Atwater police officer, 2 children injured in head-on crash

Four people, including an on-duty Atwater police officer and two children, suffered minor injuries Saturday evening in a head-on collision on Atwater Boulevard.

Officer Jason DaSilva, 29, lost consciousness briefly, apparently when his police cruiser airbag deployed during the collision. He was taken to a regional hospital where he was treated and later released, Atwater police Lt. Samuel Joseph said.

Irma Aguilar-Bucio, 28, of Atwater, and two children – a 2-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl – also suffered minor injuries, but declined medical treatment at the scene, according to the California Highway Patrol.

“They said they would seek their own medical treatment,” CHP Officer Moises Onsurez said in a telephone interview.

The CHP is leading the investigation because of the Atwater police officer’s involvement, which is standard procedure to avoid a conflict of interest in officer-involved incidents, Joseph said.

DaSilva was responding to back up another officer on a routine call around 7:45 p.m., Joseph said. “I don’t have the exact details of the call, but it was not a situation where he had his lights and sirens going,” Joseph said.

The CHP said DaSilva was traveling west around 45 mph in the 200 block of Atwater Boulevard. Aguilar-Bucio was driving east in a green 2003 Honda Accord with the two children inside.

Aguilar-Bucio made a left turn heading into the parking lot of the R&N Market, directly into the path of the oncoming police vehicle, the CHP said. “The officer was unable to avoid the vehicle and both collided head on,” Onsurez said.

Onsurez said alcohol was not a factor in the collision.

DaSilva was a reserve officer in Atwater before joining the department full time about three years ago, Joseph said. “We’re very grateful that Officer DaSilva and the others were not more seriously injured,” Joseph said. “We’re also grateful to the CHP for investigating this incident.”

Joseph said it was still too early to know whether an internal investigation would be conducted. “But from preliminary reports it doesn’t appear there was anything done by the officer that would warrant an internal review,” Joseph said.

DaSilva has been involved in several high-profile arrests and specialized units since joining the force. He is part of the city’s anti-graffiti task force, which has been credited with numerous arrests and reducing graffiti in the city this past year. DaSilva was one of the officers who used a stun gun and helped arrest a homicide suspect in 2013 who was eventually convicted of killing a man with a machete during a drunken argument, according to Merced Sun-Star archives.

This story was originally published December 27, 2014 at 10:20 PM with the headline "Atwater police officer, 2 children injured in head-on crash."