Time has taken away the sting, but for the families and friends
of the three Hollister teens who tragically lost their lives in a
fiery crash on Fairview and Shore roads a year ago, a dull ache
remains.
Hollister – Time has taken away the sting, but for the families and friends of the three Hollister teens who tragically lost their lives in a fiery crash on Fairview and Shore roads a year ago, a dull ache remains.
On Oct. 4, 2004, 13-year-old Albert Andrew Hernandez, 13-year-old Vanessa Jimenez and 16-year-old Armando Limas died after fleeing from a California Highway Patrol officer in a stolen Jaguar and crashing into a power pole. The force of the collision launched the car into the air where it overturned and burst into flames.
A fourth teen, who the Free Lance is not naming because she is a juvenile, was thrown through the windshield of the car and suffered a fractured vertebrae, facial lacerations, a collapsed lung and burns to one side of her body. A year later, she is still recovering from her injuries – both physically and emotionally, according to her mother.
However the other survivors of the accident, the family members and friends, are also recovering from the incident that ripped their loved ones from them and shocked an entire community in the ghastly way it occurred.
“It gets harder every day,” said Vanessa Hernandez, Albert’s sister. “I’m scared to get in cars with other people. As a senior in high school, everybody wants to mess around and have fun, but I’m careful because I know what can happen.”
While emotionally overpowering at times, Hernandez’s older sister was also able to recognize the lesson she learned from the accident. Although she knew some teens who have lost their lives to accidents over the past several years, she said the realization that every action comes with consequences becomes a stark reality when it affects you directly.
“Things like this, I see it as a lesson,” she said. “When it touches you personally, it affects you a lot more.”
While visiting his grave site at I.O.O.F Cemetery Wednesday, Hernandez’s youngest sister, 11-year-old Elizabeth, said it’s just not the same without Albert.
Alicia Garcia, a 17-year-old student at San Andreas, said the incident caused her to consciously think about the choices she makes before jumping into any situation. Hernandez, Jimenez and the survivor attended San Andreas, and Limas was a student at Pinnacles Community School.
“It affected my life in a big way,” she said. “It changes the invincibility prospect. You can go, too – things like this can happen to regular people. I just hope, no, I know it affects everyone in this town.”
The CHP’s initial investigation revealed that Jimenez and the survivor stole a 2001 Jaguar from a friend’s mom while visiting the daughter sometime in the early afternoon of Oct. 4, picked up Limas and Hernandez and took the car on a joyride through Hollister and surrounding cities in the hours leading up to the accident. However, the survivor’s family, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, denies the CHP’s investigation and said the teen did not participate in the theft of the car. Charges were filed against her but later dismissed.
In a prior interview the survivor’s mother said her daughter is still in recovery from her extensive injuries and is being home-schooled because she isn’t physically or emotionally able to go back to school. The girl received a major skin graft to her right leg and still has scars along the entire right side of her body – from her feet to her back, her mother said.
Jimenez’s aunt, Lila Vasquez, was amazed it’s already been a year and said she still expects to see her niece “walk through the door any minute.” To help ease the pain Tuesday, about 40 of the teen’s friends, including the survivor attended a gathering at her home to memorialize her, Vasquez said.
“She (the survivor) took it really hard. She couldn’t stop hugging my sister (Jimenez’s mother), she didn’t want to let go,” Vasquez said. “I think the kids understand now the consequences of doing something wrong – taking a car, doing drugs or alcohol, anything.”
After a CHP officer pulled the group over for driving erratically late on that Monday evening, the CHP believes Limas – who originally was in the back seat but hopped into the driver’s seat when they were stopped – turned off the lights and sped away at speeds up to 100 mph before crashing into a power pole in the parking lot of Denice & Filice Packing Co. around 10:30pm. A later report showed Hernandez had a low level of alcohol in his blood – .02 – but the other three, along with the driver, were sober.
Dina Garcia, Limas’ aunt, was unavailable for comment Wednesday, however Hernandez’s father, Albert, hammered home the fact that teens need to communicate with their parents, and vice-versa, so other families might avoid the pain he now feels.
“When I talk to kids I tell them they need to talk about their feelings – peer pressure, the little things teens get into,” he said. “This pain just never goes away.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
