Hollister resident Francisco Fabian, 19, died last week after
the car he was riding in overturned while traveling south on Buena
Vista Drive in Watsonville.
Hollister – Hollister resident Francisco Fabian, 19, died last week after the car he was riding in overturned while traveling south on Buena Vista Drive in Watsonville.
According to California Highway Patrol Public Affairs Officer Kim Bonfilio, Fabian was abandoned by the driver, 20-year-old Caesar Aaron Quintana, and two other unidentified passengers who were in the 1997 Mercedes-Benz sedan when it overturned. Police said the four were acquainted with one another, but released no further information on their relationship.
Bonfilio said police do not know why Quintana and the other passengers left the scene before police arrived and did not call an ambulance.
Initial police reports indicated that the Quintana was speeding when he lost control of the car, which crossed over into the northbound lane of the road and struck several small trees before overturning.
No other cars were involved in the accident, but Bonfilio said officers suspected the Mercedes was traveling in a group with two other vehicles.
Fabian suffered severe facial trauma and was driven to a local hospital and later flown by air ambulance to Valley Medical Center, where he died July 12. Officers have also not been able to determine if he had been wearing a seat belt or if he was ejected from the vehicle.
CHP officers responded to a call at 2:30am Monday, July 11, placed by an occupant of one of the other vehicle that had been traveling in front the Quintana’s car. At first the unidentified occupant of the vehicle denied any connection with Quintana, but later admitted all three cars were traveling together.
Bonfilio said Quintana was taken into custody at 11am, hours after the accident was first reported, but was not arrested because he complained of neck pain. Quintana was taken to Stanford Hospital where he was determined to have suffered a fractured neck and had underwent surgery last week.
As of press time, Quintana had not yet been released from the hospital or arrested. Bonfilio said he will likely be arrested as soon as he is released. He will likely face charges of felony hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter.
“This is not something we encounter very often, it’s pretty rare,” Bonfilio said. “When we first came to the scene we got a lot of false statements.”
When the other occupants of the Mercedes were located, CHP officers received more false statements, Bonfilio said. Since Quintana was not apprehended until many hours after the accident, officers could not determine if alcohol had been involved.
Brett Rowland covers education for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or br******@fr***********.com.
