Clovis rollover crash injures woman, leads to felony DUI arrest

A Friday drive on Shaw Avenue turned violent near Locan Avenue when a car left the roadway, struck a fence and rolled over multiple times into a field, sending a woman to the hospital and ending with a felony DUI arrest. Clovis police identified the driver as 61-year-old Albert Rodriguez, who was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries after firefighters pulled both occupants from the wreckage.

The crash happened around 5:45 p.m. as Rodriguez was driving eastbound on Shaw Avenue, authorities said. Police said the car went off the road for reasons that were not immediately clear, then overturned repeatedly before coming to rest in the field. Both Rodriguez and his female passenger had to be rescued by firefighters before they were transported to the hospital.

The woman suffered moderate injuries, while Rodriguez was treated for minor injuries. Police said Rodriguez was believed to have been under the influence and arrested him on a felony DUI allegation, turning a serious traffic collision into a criminal case as well as a medical emergency.

The wreck also damaged signal controls at Shaw Avenue and Locan Avenue, forcing the City of Clovis to send crews to the intersection for repairs. Drivers were urged to avoid the area and expect delays while work continued, a reminder that one suspected impaired-driving crash can ripple beyond the people inside the vehicle and disrupt a busy commuter corridor.

Shaw Avenue is no stranger to serious crashes in Clovis. A separate recent collision near Shaw Avenue and Armstrong Avenue involved a red-light violation and children in another vehicle, underscoring how often major injuries and risky driving converge on the city’s arterial roads. Clovis police have also been active on DUI enforcement, with patrols leading to citations, arrests and towed vehicles as the department works to curb impaired driving before it turns into another emergency.

For Fresno County commuters, the crash was another sharp example of the local cost of impaired driving: one alleged felony DUI, two injured people, a damaged intersection and a city response that stretched from rescue crews to road repairs.