Street damaged by sinkhole could reopen today

Public Works crews fill in a sinkhole on Rives Avenue Monday. Photos by Alex Dominguez

DOWNEY -- An automotive crash and subsequent sinkhole late Saturday evening put a damper on Father’s Day for Downey residents in and around a Rives Avenue neighborhood.

The crash, which occurred in the 12000 block of Rives Avenue near Brunache Street, happened around 10:15 p.m. after authorities say the driver of an SUV swerved to avoid another vehicle, striking a power pole and shearing a fire hydrant.

The driver was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, authorities said.

Following the collision, a sinkhole formed and swallowed up the involved SUV. The driver was not inside at the time.

Many of the residents in the immediate area were left without water and electricity until later Sunday, however, it is currently unknown how many people were affected nor what the exact perimeter of the outages was.

One resident, Atanasio Trujillo, 75, returned home from a graduation party around midnight when he discovered what had happened. Trujillo lives just a few houses away on Rives.

“We saw some patrol cars, police officers blocking the street, taking care of the street so nobody had any more accidents I believe,” said Trujillo. “We pulled the car inside the garage and we came out to see what was going on…I looked up and I saw the transformer hanging, the cables.”

Trujillo says that only his power was affected, leaving him without electricity for almost 20 hours. It was enough to upend his Father’s Day plans.

“I was supposed to watch the futbol game, the soccer game. We couldn’t, no power,” said Trujillo. “We were supposed to have a nice dinner to celebrate, and have some guests, family. We had to cancel because the street was closed.”

Crews could be seen tending to the damage Monday morning. According to city staff, it is expected that the street will be reopened by the end of the day.

Staff also said that the street and homeowner’s driveway will hopefully be cleaned up by the end of the week.