In a path of destruction where shards of glass and shattered
hearts remained Monday, family and friends remembered two
18-year-olds killed in Saturday night’s tragic single-car crash in
rural San Benito County.
Paul
”
P.J.
”
Galvan and Matthew Lopez, both 2003 graduates of San Benito High
School, died when a car driven by Omar De La Cruz, 16, plowed into
a field and toppled onto its roof. Two other 18-year-old
passengers, Joshua Badillo and Ricardo Cosio, sustained injuries
but survived.
In a path of destruction where shards of glass and shattered hearts remained Monday, family and friends remembered two 18-year-olds killed in Saturday night’s tragic single-car crash in rural San Benito County.
Paul “P.J.” Galvan and Matthew Lopez, both 2003 graduates of San Benito High School, died when a car driven by Omar De La Cruz, 16, plowed into a field and toppled onto its roof. Two other 18-year-old passengers, Joshua Badillo and Ricardo Cosio, sustained injuries but survived.
“I can’t believe this, I really can’t believe this,” said Brandi Rodriguez Galvan, P.J.’s cousin, while at the accident site reading a green electrical box covered with inscriptions. “I’ll remember his smile. I’ve never seen that boy in my life with a frown on his face.”
She was among scores, maybe hundreds, of people who visited the memorial throughout Monday. What started as a signed poster board and roses Sunday became an exhibition of mementos – letters, poems, a golf club and ball, a baseball, candles, balloons and a tall wooden cross.
“You never dream of things like that,” said Tina Mangano of Gilroy, Lopez’s aunt, who visited the memorial Monday morning with her husband, Angelo. “You never dream of it happening in your family.”
At San Benito High School – where roadway tragedy has struck all too much in recent years – five advisors trained for grief counseling were available for students and teachers throughout the day, according to school Principal Duane Morgan.
“It seems like every year we have an incident like this,” said Morgan, who pointed out the death of two former graduates in a Highway 25 accident in February 2002. “It’s just a shame because they were such young people.”
The mood, he said, included many students and teachers visibly upset over the tragedy.
“School today,” said senior Jenny Maheu, “was very sad.”
Meanwhile on Monday, law enforcement authorities described a more complete picture of the weekend accident. Alcohol was involved, and De La Cruz, a junior at the high school, will likely be charged with one or two counts of vehicular manslaughter and driving while under the influence, according to Terry Mayes, information officer for the California Highway Patrol.
District Attorney John Sarsfield makes those decisions – he expected to receive the complaint Tuesday, he said. De La Cruz was booked at the San Benito County Juvenile Hall late Sunday. If Sarsfield does not charge him within 48 hours of the booking, De La Cruz would be released until charges are filed, if they’re filed, according to the district attorney.
“I literally know nothing about it,” Sarsfield said early Monday afternoon. “All I know is there was an accident and people were killed.”
On Saturday at about 11 p.m., De La Cruz drove a 1993 Ford Taurus at a high speed on Santa Ana Valley Road through a stop sign where the rural avenue intersects with Fairview Road, according to a CHP report.
In the cold and rain, the car hit the ditch embankment head-on and went airborne about 200 feet, according to the report. Afterward, one passenger said he had observed the speedometer at 110 mph, according to Mayes.
The car hit the ground, overturned and slid on its roof. It stopped just before toppling into the Santa Ana Creek, a tributary that cuts through Fairview Road, according to the report.
Galvan and Lopez died in the vehicle before rescuers arrived. De La Cruz and Cosio were airlifted to San Jose Medical Center with injuries. Both were discharged Sunday, when De La Cruz was taken to Juvenile Hall.
The two passengers who survived – Cosio and Badillo, both 2002 graduates of San Benito – sustained cuts to their hands and arms, along with experiencing back, neck and knee pain, Mayes said. Everyone in the car, she said, was wearing a seat belt.
Regarding the group’s whereabouts before the accident, Mayes said, “It did not appear they had been any place specific (before the crash). The driver decided he wanted to go out for a drive.”
The county Sheriff’s Department conducted the autopsies Monday afternoon on Galvan and Lopez, according to Det./Sgt. Wes Walker. The results were not available by press time.
On Monday, immediate family members talked about the kind natures of the young men, both of whom were attending their first years at Gavilan College.
“(P.J.) was a nice enough football player, once he knocked you down, he’d help you up,” said Robert Galvan, P.J.’s father, of his involvement with Baler football. Galvan also played baseball in high school and was playing his first year at Gavilan.
Neal Andrade, the Gavilan baseball coach, who also led San Benito High School’s team during Galvan’s junior and senior seasons, called Galvan a “great teammate.”
“P.J.’s the kind of guy who I got into coaching for,” Andrade said.
For Galvan, visitation will be Wednesday from 5–5:30 p.m. at Black Cooper Sander Funeral Home and from 6–9 p.m. at St. Benedict’s Church. A church service will take place at 7 p.m.
Laura Lopez, Matthew’s mother, also mentioned her son’s involvement in sports – in his case, golf in high school and prospectively at Gavilan in the spring.
“My son Matt was a beautiful person,” she said. “He was a very happy person. He always had a smile on his face.”
For Lopez, visitation will take place Thursday at Grunnagle-Ament-Nelson Funeral Home at 3 p.m. until a rosary service in the mortuary chapel at 7 p.m. A funeral service will occur there Friday at 10:30 a.m. and will proceed to the Old Mission San Juan Bautista for a church service at 11 a.m.
