Posted on 06/11/2003 7:03:59 AM PDT by freebilly
SANTA CRUZ — A ‘‘car surfing’’ accident left a 14-year-old Harbor High School freshman dead and the 17-year-old driver of the vehicle arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter.
Avi Vargas died after he fell from his skateboard on Prospect Heights about 3:30 p.m. Monday. He was holding onto the passenger-side mirror of a 1989 red Jeep Cherokee, driven by the 17-year-old, when he slipped and was run over, police said.
Another boy, a 16-year-old, was riding in the Jeep.
"I’ve seen accidents, but I never saw anything so awful in my life," said Cheryl Mayes, who has operated a child-care center at the corner of Trevethan Avenue and Prospect Heights for the past 32 years.
Mayes said she saw the Jeep coming up the hill on Trevethan with Vargas clinging to the mirror. The driver turned the corner onto Prospect, she said. Moments later she heard a loud thump. The accident occurred half a block away.
"I ran down there with a quilt," Mayes said Tuesday. "It was so cold yesterday. I knew whoever it was needed to be covered."
Though he couldn’t say how fast the Jeep was traveling when Vargas slipped, Sgt. Brad Goodwin of the Santa Cruz Police Department said investigators estimated it was moving about 20 mph as it rounded the corner. Then the driver, who gave Vargas permission to grab the ride, accelerated, he said.
Vargas was unconscious when police and emergency medical teams arrived at the scene. He was treated and transported to Dominican Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Witnesses at the scene said the driver of the Jeep looked sick and sunk to the ground after the accident. His passenger shouted in anguish. Both boys encouraged Vargas to hang on.
The 17-year-old driver, whose name was not released by police because he is a minor, was released to a parent’s custody after his arrest Monday, Goodwin said.
Just how often car surfing happens is unclear, but Goodwin said it’s "a dangerous thing to do, but it probably happens a lot."
The death sent shock waves through three local schools and the Prospect Heights neighborhood.
It happened about a block from DeLaveaga Elementary School, where Vargas’ sister Sierra is in sixth grade.
"We had a strong connection to this incident," said David Freed, DeLaveaga’s principal. "All three (teens) were former students at DeLaveaga. The teachers, students and parents are really saddened by it."
The three boys also attended Branciforte Junior High School, and the 16-year-old also is a Harbor student. Vargas’ brother, Elia, is scheduled to graduate from Harbor on Friday.
Counselors were on all three campuses Tuesday to help students and staff deal with grief. At Branciforte, students dedicated an afternoon variety show to Vargas, and at a sixth-grade dinner, Sierra’s classmates planned to light a candle in his memory.
Friends and former teachers remembered Vargas as a quiet, easy-going kid who was liked and respected by his classmates. He enjoyed surfing, skateboarding and rock climbing. Police said he would have turned 15 next month.
"He got along with everybody," said Ryan Lovejoy, 16, whose friendship with Vargas dates to the third grade. "I don’t remember ever getting into an argument with him, or seeing any- one argue with him. ... He liked the beach. He liked to hang out with friends. He just liked to have fun."
Bennett Jackson, 15, was on the Harbor junior varsity soccer team with Vargas, and had known him since kindergarten. He recalled Vargas’ sense of humor, which he used to diffuse tense situations.
"He could turn any situation into a happy one," Jackson said. "I’ll always think about our soccer team. Me and Avi, we weren’t the star players so we had more time to be with each other. Pretty much sitting on the bench, we had a bunch of fun."
Cindy Morley taught Vargas in sixth grade at DeLaveaga. He was a decent student and a sweet kid, she said, adding he had an adventurous side like many of the boys she has taught over the years. But he wasn’t particularly a risk-taker, she said, and he came from a close-knit, caring family.
"He was just a regular kid who made a bad decision," Morley said. "The tragedy could have happened to any one of a dozen boys just like him."
Neighbors expressed a mixture of sadness and anger at what several said was an accident just waiting to happen. They said speeding is rampant on the street in a neighborhood lined with well-kept homes fronted by small lawns and flower gardens. Car surfing is a regular activity.
"They were just out being kids, bless their hearts," said Sheila Bryant, whose brick home sits across the street from a makeshift memorial of flower bouquets and lit candles that marks the spot where Vargas was killed.
But Bryant said she hoped the tragedy would prompt drivers to slow down. A few minutes later, as she stood in front of the memorial talking with neighbor Carrie Eheler, a red Acura sped by. When the two women motioned for the car to slow down, the driver made an obscene gesture.
Mayes, the child-care provider, said neighbors held a candlelight vigil for Vargas on Monday night.
"We talked about him, and gave him our blessing," she said.
Vargas is survived by his parents, David Vargas and Patrice Sovyak, and his sister and brother.
Simple prayers would be nice, but this is the public school system and it's Santa Cruz, so let's have grief counseling and light a candle....
My immediate thought, too, but I fought the urge. I decided to wait a day before being my usual smart-@$$ed self....
I remember car surfing in 1968 back in Piscataway, New Jersey. 13-18 are the prime years for Jackass-like behavior.
ummm...20 mph? not wise, but not insanely stupid. Sad.
I had a StingRay bike that I spray painted gold. We'd tie a rope on it then tie it to the bumper of one of my older brother's friend's car. Stupid, but great fun.
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