Driver who crashed car into Harvard business gets 5 weekends in jail

A man who crashed his vehicle into a Harvard business, injuring an employee inside, pleaded guilty Friday to aggravated reckless driving and was sentenced to 15 noncontinuous days in jail and 24 months of probation.

Sergio Pichardo-Esquivel, 21, of Harvard, was ordered to spend five weekends in the county jail starting Friday, according to the order signed by Mark Gerhardt.

He also was ordered to obtain a substance abuse evaluation within 60 days and follow all recommendations, as well as submit to random screens where he must test negative for THC and any controlled substances he does not have a prescription for. Pichardo-Esquivel also was ordered to make a $100 contribution to Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.

When first arrested in March, he also was charged with traffic offenses that included driving too fast for conditions, transportation of open alcohol by a driver and possession of marijuana by the driver, according to the criminal complaint.

Those charges were dismissed, records show.

Police alleged that the morning of March 11, Pichardo-Esquivel drove a red 2019 Ford Coupe west on Park Street “at a speed where he could no longer control the vehicle” and crashed into the building that houses Erect-A-Tube at 701 W. Park St.

The vehicle hit an employee who was sitting at his desk. The employee, along with debris from the crash, were thrown about 20 feet, according to the complaint. Officials said Pichard-Esquivel’s car also hit two parked vehicles during the crash.

The man hit by the vehicle suffered multiple injuries, requiring “multiple stitches to his right elbow” and resulting in “severe bruising to his left calf, causing him to be placed into a leg brace,” according to the complaint and indictment.