REDWOOD CITY — A man pleaded no contest Monday to crashing his car onto a San Mateo sidewalk while under the influence of prescription drugs last September, injuring three special education students and their teacher who were on a field trip, prosecutors said today.
John Henry Zborowski, 54, entered the plea on the condition that he receive no more than two years in state prison when he’s sentenced on July 29, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
Zborowski had been charged with DUI causing great bodily injury for the Sept. 10 collision near Hillsdale High School.
The teacher and students, ages 15, 16 and 18, were part of a group of about 15 special education students and five teachers from the high school on a walking field trip to teach the students life skills, police said.
As they were walking on the sidewalk in the 300 block of West Hillside Boulevard at 11:17 a.m., Zborowski, driving west on West Hillside, veered onto the sidewalk and into the group, police said.
The teacher, a 28-year-old Belmont woman, suffered head trauma, broken ribs and broken legs. The students’ injuries were less severe, mainly lacerations and abrasions.
Zborowski was found at the collision scene passed out behind the wheel of his car and was taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries. He was not arrested for more than two months, but has remained in jail on $350,000 bail since a police investigation determined he had been driving under the influence of prescription medication.
Zborowski’s defense attorney Alex Bernstein was not immediately available for comment today on the case.