Days after a 19-year-old San Juan Bautista teen was killed in a
road-rage related accident on Highway 156, police have a slightly
clearer picture of why it happened but still haven’t found the
person they believe intentionally caused the multi-vehicle
crash.
San Juan Bautista – Days after a 19-year-old San Juan Bautista teen was killed in a road-rage related accident on Highway 156, police have a slightly clearer picture of why it happened but still haven’t found the person they believe intentionally caused the multi-vehicle crash.
California Highway Patrol officers are searching for Hector Vivanco, who has both a Salinas and Hollister address, and owns the white 1990 Toyota Celica seen ramming another car on Highway 101 and Highway 156 Sunday afternoon. The driver, allegedly in a fit of road rage, caused the accident that killed San Juan resident Paulino Jimenez Elizarraras and injured four other county residents, including San Benito County tax collector Mary Lou Andrade.
While Andrade, her husband Ernest and their passenger David Bartlett Werolin sustained major injuries and are still at Stanford Medical Center, CHP Officer Brad Voyles said doctors expect all of them to recover from their injuries.
Voyles said officers have been by both of Vivanco’s addresses and can’t find him for questioning. Police are also searching for a passenger in the Celica who witnesses say brandished a baseball bat and leaned out the window of the vehicle before the driver rammed the Jeep Cherokee Elizarraras was a passenger in – causing it to spin out of control into the oncoming lane of traffic.
Whoever was driving the car at the time of the accident could face murder charges if caught, according to San Benito County District Attorney John Sarsfield.
“We would love to interview him (Vivanco) if we can find him,” Voyles said. “We’ve got some calls but nothing to work with. Witnesses have said they know who he is, but we don’t know where he’s hiding or where he’s living.”
After interviewing 20-year-old San Juan resident Manuel Vuella, who was driving the Jeep Elizarraras was in, Voyles said investigators do not believe the two parties knew each other. Voyles also said the accident is not believed to be gang-related.
Both Elizarraras and Vuella do not have any prior bookings at the San Benito County Jail, and Vivanco has no record at the San Benito or Monterey county jails, according to jail personnel.
After interviewing Vuella, police believe the incident began as a mutual combat situation when Vuella cut the white Celica off on Highway 101, Voyles said.
After pulling out of the Red Barn, Voyles said Vuella pushed his way into traffic in front of the Celica, which sparked the conflict. The two cars began swerving back and forth, trying to run each other off the road and witnesses said the Celica began ramming the Jeep before both cars took the Highway 156 exit, Voyles said.
While traveling eastbound on Highway 156 around 3pm, witnesses saw the Celica drive into the center divider two or three times as if the driver was trying to pass the Jeep, Voyles said. While in the center divider, the passenger in the Celica, a Hispanic male in his early 20s with short hair, rolled down the window and brandished a baseball bat like he was trying to hit someone in the other car, Voyles said. At that time, the driver veered right and the car’s right fender hit the Jeep’s left rear bumper. The move is similar to a tactic police officers use to stop fleeing suspects, called a Precision Immobilization Technique, or PIT maneuver, but Voyles said officers only use it when traveling 30 mph or less for safety reasons.
After the Celica hit the Jeep, it sent the vehicle spinning counter-clockwise across the center divide into the opposite lane of traffic, where it was hit by a Ford Explorer driven by Ernest Andrade, Voyles said.
The CHP doesn’t know how fast the cars were traveling at the time of the collision, but when the Jeep crossed into the westbound lane Andrade didn’t have time to break or swerve and broadsided the Jeep, he said. Both vehicles overturned, and while the occupants of the Explorer and Vuella were taken to Stanford, Elizarraras was pronounced dead at the scene, Voyles said.
The CHP is asking anyone with information to contact either officers Brad Voyles or Kevin Alexander at (408) 848-2324 with information about the crash or Vivanco’s whereabouts.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
