Authorities identify man killed in fiery collision

SANTA CLARA >> A motorist killed in a fiery collision with a power pole in Santa Clara on Thursday has been identified by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office as 45-year-old Francis Carpenito of Campbell.

Carpenito was driving northbound on San Tomas Expressway at a “high rate of speed” about 10:20 a.m. when he lost control of his Mercedes-Benz as it crossed the intersection with El Camino Real, Santa Clara police said Friday. The vehicle then crashed into a wooden power pole on the east side of the roadway and burst into flames.

Carpenito was pronounced dead at the scene.

The impact broke the pole in half and several homes had to be evacuated because of hanging power lines.

The collision knocked out power to more than 2,700 Silicon Valley Power customers, according to police. The outage affected the Central Park Library and the Community Recreation Center. Programs at the International Swim Center were called off for the day.

All lanes of northbound San Tomas Expressway between El Camino Real and Cabrillo Avenue were closed for several hours while crews made repairs and police investigated the crash.

Power was restored to all customers by about 9 p.m. Thursday, according to Silicon Valley Power.

Anyone with information about the collision can contact traffic investigator Nick Cusimano at 408-615-4764.