By Bay City News Service:
A 34-year-old man died of self-inflicted stab wounds Wednesday night after his car collided with the front kiosk and glass entrance to the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz, police said Thursday.
The man, who is not being identified, was driving north on Seabright Avenue toward Soquel Avenue on Wednesday around 10:45 p.m. when he turned and crashed into the front of the theater-- which was closed and empty at the time, according to police Deputy Chief Steve Clark.
Witnesses told police that prior to the crash, they saw the man in his 1988 Mercury Tracer hatchback driving erratically while heading south on state Highway 1 and Morrissey Boulevard, Clark said.
After the collision, witnesses reported seeing the driver get out of the car, pick up pieces of shattered glass and begin to stab himself in the neck and torso, Clark said. He stabbed an artery, which caused significant bleeding.
The driver at first resisted efforts by police officers and others to offer him first aid to halt the bleeding, but eventually he was loaded into an ambulance that took him to Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, where he died, Clark said.
The man did not appear to have suffered life-threatening injuries from the collision, Clark said. Because his self-inflicted wounds were significant and threatened his life, police are investigating the case as a suicide.
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