Hollister
– Further investigation into the gruesome car crash Monday night
revealed that alcohol could have been involved, that the driver of
the stolen car may have ran from police as a possible way to join a
gang, and because he thought he would be sent to the California
Youth Authority for previous crimi
nal violations, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Family members strongly disagree with much of the CHP’s
assessment.
Hollister – Further investigation into the gruesome car crash Monday night revealed that alcohol could have been involved, that the driver of the stolen car may have ran from police as a possible way to join a gang, and because he thought he would be sent to the California Youth Authority for previous criminal violations, according to the California Highway Patrol. Family members strongly disagree with much of the CHP’s assessment.
Armando Limas, 16, who died along with Vanessa Jimenez, 13, and Albert Andrew Hernandez, 13, was driving a stolen Jaguar when it hit a power pole in the parking lot of Denice & Filice Packing Co. on Fairview and Shore roads at 10:30pm, said CHP Officer Terry Mayes.
Mayes said investigators think Limas fled from police because he had a prior stolen vehicle charge and he thought a second charge could land him in the California Youth Authority, the state’s juvenile prison. She also said he may have been trying to join the Norteño gang and one way to become a member is by outrunning police.
The accident victims were trapped in the car and and died either in the crash or burned to death when the car burst into flames upon impact. Autopsy reports were unavailable Friday. Another 13-year-old girl was seriously injured after being thrown through the windshield. She is still in serious condition at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, according to Mayes.
Police found a bottle containing some type of alcoholic beverage and several 7-Up cans inside the car, but toxicology reports on the occupants won’t be complete for at least a couple weeks, Mayes said.
Limas may have ran from an officer who pulled the car over for driving recklessly on Shore Road because he believed police were searching for him after his mother told him that an aunt had “ratted him out to police” for violating his probation, Mayes said.
Mayes said his aunt and guardian, Dina Garcia, and his mother were involved in a custody battle over Limas.
Mayes said Limas’ mother, Karen Ordonez, had told her son on Sunday or Monday before the accident that Garcia had called police because he had violated his probation and they were looking for him, which was a “blatant lie” and one possible reason he fled from the officer.
Garcia, whom Limas had been living with for the past six months, adamantly denied having any kind of custody problems with Ordonez and said his mother had never told Limas that Garcia told police he had violated his probation.
“He was placed with me to give his mom time to get a job and a house and stabilize herself,” Garcia said. “I was ready to give him back, and he wanted to go home – he needed to. It’s his mom, he loved his mom – they were very close.”
It’s unclear why Limas was on probation because juvenile probation records cannot be released without a court order, according to Deborah Botts, head probation officer for San Benito County.
Mayes said witnesses who talked to Limas hours before the crash told investigators Limas was attempting to join a gang because he believed he would soon be sent to the CYA, and he wanted the protection a gang would provide inside the facility.
“One of the best ways to (join a gang) is run from the cops and get away,” she said.
But Garcia said Limas had no Norteño gang ties and had no gang paraphernalia anywhere in her home to suggest he was trying to become a member.
“He has nothing like that here,” Garcia said. “Probation was doing so good. They nipped that in the bud quite a while ago – (gangs were) not an issue.”
Mayes also said Limas had a court hearing that was postponed to a future date because of a previous stolen vehicle charge, but Garcia said the court case was only to determine if Limas could move back in with Ordonez, and that he had never stolen a car before.
Garcia believes someone else was driving the car, and that the reason they fled was a “primitive but natural reaction” because they didn’t want to get caught doing something they shouldn’t have.
“A lot of kids would… adults do that, too,” she said. “Their adrenaline was rushing and they didn’t want to go down like that.”
The two girls stole the car early in the afternoon, picked up the boys some time later and drove to San Jose, Limas’ aunt, Juli Cooper said on Wednesday. Cooper could not be reached for comment Friday.
On their way back to Hollister they stopped in Gilroy, where Limas asked a friend if he could stay at his house because he thought police in Hollister were searching for him and he didn’t want to go back to his aunt’s house, Mayes said.
Lila Vasquez, Vanessa Jimenez’s aunt, said some of her niece’s friends she has talked to over the past few days told her a similar story – that Limas and the 13-year-old survivor were both on probation and risked being sent to jail if they were caught.
“He knew where he’d be headed to… but why chance taking your life rather than paying the price for what you did wrong?” Vasquez said. “But they were kids and they didn’t know any better – they had no guidance.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or
em*******@fr***********.com
