Executive Summary
- Daniel Martinez, 65, died after crashing an RV into parked cars in San Jose in November.
- Police report that Martinez claimed to be the victim of a violent carjacking to explain his injuries.
- Forensic evidence confirmed Martinez was the driver and fabricated the story to avoid liability.
- The incident has been officially classified as San Jose’s 41st traffic fatality of 2025.
SAN JOSE — Investigators with the San Jose Police Department have concluded that a motorist who died following a recreational vehicle crash in November fabricated a carjacking report, allegedly to evade liability for the collision.
According to police reports, officers responded to a hit-and-run collision on the evening of November 22 on Summerside Drive, near Coyote Creek. A 1987 Toyota Odyssey RV had struck several unoccupied parked vehicles. Authorities noted that no driver was present at the scene when law enforcement arrived to investigate the damage.
Two days following the incident, traffic detectives received a notification from a local hospital. A man, later identified by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office as 65-year-old Daniel Martinez, claimed he owned the RV but had lost possession of it to a violent carjacker who inflicted head and chest injuries upon him.
Martinez passed away on December 14. During the subsequent death investigation, the Coroner’s Office discovered evidence contradicting the carjacking claim. The Santa Clara County Crime Lab analyzed the findings and confirmed last Thursday that forensic evidence matched the crash site, indicating Martinez was operating the vehicle at the time of the wreck rather than a purported attacker.
Investigative Conclusion
Following the forensic confirmation, the San Jose Police Department has classified the incident as the city’s 41st traffic fatality of 2025. This determination utilizes forensic science to definitively rule out the involvement of a third-party assailant, reclassifying the event from a violent crime investigation to a traffic fatality involving a hit-and-run. It is important to note that all individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
