A driver high on meth and heroin jailed for killing two rescue workers in a head-on DUI crash won’t get out early under California’s controversial Elderly Parole Program — after outrage that he was set to walk free for serving less than half his sentence.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday rejected a parole board’s decision to grant parole to Joseph Tidwell, now 57, bringing welcome relief to the families of Scott Johnston, 29, and Phil Calvert, 58, who were killed in the 2004 crash.

Johnston’s best friend Bob Blanck, who was himself critically injured in the wreck, penned a moving op-ed for The California Post opposing Tidwell’s release.

He welcomed the governor’s intervention ‘as a rare act of common sense’ given Tidwell has served only 22 years of a 45-year sentence.

”It was definitely a great surprise,” Blanck told The Post of the governor’s decision.

Blanck, a San Bernardino County school teacher, was serving as a volunteer with the San Gorgonio Search and Rescue Team on the night of July 17, 2004, as the volunteers sped to search for a missing 17-year-old in Joshua Tree.

Tidwell, 35 at the time, passed out, crossed the center line and struck the rescue crew’s Suburban head-on, killing Blanck’s teammates Scott Johnston, 29, and Phil Calvert, 58.

Blanck was trapped in the back seat and forced to watch helplessly as medical workers performed CPR on Johnston.

But after a few minutes, he realized Johnston was gone. Both of Calvert’s legs were smashed in the crash and he later died of complications from his injuries.

Blanck himself suffered serious injuries and was hospitalized for three months, enduring five surgeries.

Doctors repaired a torn artery and fused his lower back. They put a rod and screws in his leg, and an external fixator on his foot.

Tidwell, who was unhurt, was arrested at the scene. His girlfriend, who was riding shotgun in his truck, was severely injured.

Blanck still gets emotional when he thinks of the crash.

”Even though I watched my best friend die right in front of me, and I was told about Phil’s passing, their deaths didn’t really hit me until I was home,” he wrote in his op-ed for The Post.

A San Bernardino County jury found Tidwell guilty of two counts of second-degree murder in 2007.

In December 2024, Tidwell, 55, applied for parole under California’s Elderly Parole Program after serving just 20 years of his sentence.

Tidwell’s request was denied after the parole board considered infractions during his incarceration.

Just 18 months later, Tidwell again applied for elderly parole, and on June 30, 2026, his request was granted.

However, the decision was subject to review by Gov. Newsom, who reversed the board’s grant.

”I acknowledge that Mr. Tidwell has made efforts to improve himself during the 22 years he has been in prison. He has completed a vocation, participated in self-help programming, and is enrolled in college courses,” wrote Newsom in the letter shared with Blanck on Monday.

”However, these factors are outweighed by negative factors that demonstrate he remains unsuitable for parole at this time.”

Tidwell was convicted of a DUI and was arrested for a second DUI that resulted in a parole violation before the fatal 2004 crash.

He also used drugs and engaged in financial misconduct at Soledad State Prison, Newsom noted in the letter.

”In light of his relatively recent misconduct in prison, as well as his past record of parole violations in the community, I have concluded that Mr. Tidwell must do additional work to address his risk factors before he can be safely released,” the governor wrote.

California’s Elderly Parole Program permits eligible inmates who are 50 or older and have served at least 20 continuous years in prison to receive special consideration for parole.

Convicts sentenced to death or life in prison without the possibility of parole are not eligible.

Under the previous eligibility rules, inmates were eligible for elderly parole only after serving at least 25 years of their sentence and reaching age 60.

The program originated as part of California’s efforts to reduce prison overcrowding and was expanded in 2021 to cover younger inmates who had served less time.

The program has sparked fury statewide over violent criminals becoming eligible for release.

Under the rule, state corrections officials in February granted parole to one of Sacramento County’s most reviled child predators, David Allen Funston, who kidnapped and molested at least eight children in the mid-’90s.

Amid public protest over the decision, Funston was hit with fresh charges just hours before he was due to be released.

The law permits eligible inmates to reapply for parole every 18 months, even in cases such as Tidwell’s, where the parole board’s decision was rejected by the governor.

That means Tidwell may reapply for elderly parole in 2028, something Johnston’s heartbroken mother, Beth Greenwood, can’t fathom.

”I’m very happy with the outcome of this particular decision, but this is going to come up again in 18 months,” she told The Post through tears. ”[Tidwell] can get out and be just as dangerous now as he was then.”