San Juan Bautista
– Police believe the suspect in the road rage accident that
killed a 19-year-old Mexican immigrant, cutting short his dream of
earning enough money to build his mother a home in Mexico City, has
fled the country.
San Juan Bautista – Police believe the suspect in the road rage accident that killed a 19-year-old Mexican immigrant, cutting short his dream of earning enough money to build his mother a home in Mexico City, has fled the country.
After several days of cold leads and little information, the California Highway Patrol recently received tips that the owner of the Toyota Celica involved in the Sunday accident on Highway 156 fled to Mexico, said Officer Matt Ramirez. The driver of the Celica, which was seen ramming a Jeep Cherokee on Highway 101 and Highway 156, allegedly in a fit of road rage, caused the accident that killed Mexico City native Paulino Jimenez Elizarraras and injured four other county residents, including tax collector Mary Lou Andrade.
Ramirez didn’t know exactly where the owner of the Celica, Hector Vivanco, may have gone, but he said investigators should know more after conducting further interviews.
“He may still be down there in San Benito County, but rumors from the sheriff’s department and tip line sounds like the guy already split,” Ramirez said. “I don’t know (where the car is), but I figure if you’re on the run you’ll probably ditch the car.”
If police do locate the man in Mexico they would face the daunting task of extraditing him to the United States.
“Mexico won’t do it if there’s potential for the death penalty,” Ramirez said. “We would need a letter from the DA saying there’s no possibility of the death penalty.”
The person behind the wheel, who hasn’t been positively identified as Vivanco, could face a murder charge, according to San Benito County District Attorney John Sarsfield.
“A first degree murder charge potentially carries the death penalty, but we’re not even sure it could be a first degree murder,” Sarsfield said.
A first degree murder charge usually means the crime was premeditated, he said. Sarsfield said extraditing someone from Mexico requires local law enforcement agencies to work with the Attorney General’s Office and United States Department of Justice.
“It can be done, and we will contact those agencies if need be,” he said.
Elizarraras’ grieving family hopes that law enforcement officials are successful in bringing whoever is responsible for the teen’s death to justice, said his uncle, Jose Jimenez.
Elizarraras, who lived in San Juan Bautista for about a year, worked at Tanimura & Antle Farms picking lettuce, Jimenez said. He came to California with the hope of saving enough money to move back to Mexico City, where he might build a house for him and his mother, Jimenez said.
But his dream was cut short in Sunday’s tragic accident that sent his childhood friend, 20-year-old Manuel Vuella, to the hospital with major injuries. Vuella was driving the Jeep Elizarraras was a passenger in and may have fueled the driver of the Celica’s rage when he cut in front of him on Highway 101, according to the CHP.
Police believe Vuella pushed his way into traffic and in front of the Celica from the Red Barn. 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, according to Officer Brad Voyles.
While driving east on Highway 156, the Celica began swerving into the center divider and a passenger rolled down the window and brandished a baseball bat like he was trying to hit someone in the other car. At that time the driver of the Celica veered right and the car’s right fender hit the Jeep’s left rear bumper – spinning the Jeep counter-clockwise across the center divide into the opposite lane and directly into the path of a Ford Explorer driven by county resident Ernest Andrade, Voyles said.
Elizarraras died at the scene and four others were injured.
The teen’s entire family, which includes his mother, 21-year-old sister and 21-year-old brother, took the news of his death extremely hard, Jimenez said. After Elizarraras’ father died of a heart attack just five months ago, another tragedy is almost too much to handle, he said.
In particular, his older brother, Mario Alberto, is devastated. He talked to Elizarraras a couple hours before the accident and was on his way from Sacramento at the time to visit his little brother, Jimenez said.
“He saw the car from the highway. He was close to Paulino’s house when he saw the highway patrol with flares from the road,” Jimenez said. “When he got to the house, after about five minutes they received a call from the highway patrol letting them know he was involved in an accident. That’s when he knew it was his brother. He talked to him for the last time before he died.”
Jimenez said his nephew was very shy and quiet, and his family and friends constantly joked with him about being a chatterbox. He liked to play soccer in his free time and was respectful to everyone, Jimenez said.
His body is being shipped home, and his many friends and family in Mexico City will lay him to rest on Tuesday, Jimenez said.
“The rest of the family is just waiting for him to arrive – the whole neighborhood, really,” he said.
But the one person who won’t be attending services for his friend is Vuella.
Vuella was released from the hospital Tuesday, but Jimenez said he has been under heavy medication from his extensive injuries and won’t be able to travel for awhile.
But the emotional pain he felt when he was informed of his friend’s death trumps any physical pain he might have, Jimenez said.
“He wanted to die too when he found out Paulino died. He went crazy,” Jimenez said. “They had to give him something to calm him down, and he’s still in shock. He wants to go home, too.”
Anyone with information about Hector Vivanco’s whereabouts, or further information about the accident can contact the California Highway Patrol at (408) 848-2324.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or em*******@fr***********.com
