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Details still few in Vacaville crash

Oakland Tribune, Oct 21, 2005 by Kimberly K. Fu, STAFF WRITER

VACAVILLE -- Few new details emerged Thursday from the investigation of a crash on Wednesday that killed two siblings and injured nearly a dozen other pedestrians, most of them students of Padan Elementary School.

Results of autopsies conducted on Ana Cardenas, 9, and her brother, 7-year-old Luis, won't be available until today, officials said.

Five youths and an adult treated at NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield and VacaValley Hospital have since been released, spokeswoman Joanie Erickson said.

Breck Baumgard, 10, was listed in critical condition at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center in Sacramento.

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Robert Chairez, 6, was listed in critical but stable condition at Children's Hospital Oakland.

The crash occurred around 2:15 p.m. when a gray Ford Taurus driven by Fairfield resident David Michael Bell, 24, reportedly sped north on Davis Street, struck a Chevy Camaro and plowed into pedestrians -- many of them residents of the nearby Alamo Gardens Apartments -- who traversed the sidewalk at the corner of Davis Street and Padan School Road. Padan had let out for the day about 15 minutes earlier, officials said, and the crowd was on its way home.

Injured children were pinned against or under cars, a pregnant woman was trapped between a car and a tree, youths were ejected from strollers and several more victims were strewn in the street or on the sidewalk.

Shattered glass, personal belongings and a child's shoe littered the thoroughfare. Emergency personnel crowded the area, tending to the wounded.

Bell, whose car came to rest against a tree trunk, remained in the vehicle. Witnesses said onlookers screamed at Bell and tried to pull him from the vehicle.

Police said further investigation revealed that the suspect -- Fairfield resident David Michael Bell, 24 -- could have reached speeds of up to 70 mph as he sped north on Davis Street around 2:15 p.m. in a school zone where the speed limit is 25 mph.

"We believe that he saw the congestion ahead as he was approaching the area of the school and made the decision to attempt to pass the slow traffic by using the right shoulder of the road, at a continued high rate of speed," said Vacaville police Lt. Craig Rossiter.

Officials arrested Bell on suspicion of murder. Whether Bell is officially charged with that offense is in the hands of the District Attorney's Office, Rossiter said.

Solano County District Attorney Dave Paulson said his staff was on scene Wednesday and again met with police on Thursday, but had not yet reached a decision on specific charges that would be filed against Bell.

"We'll get all the reports in the morning and make a decision at that time," Paulson said. "It's the kind of case we don't see very often, so we need to gather all the information to make a appropriate filing decision."

A murder complaint, he said, is a possibility.

"What you're looking for there is whether the operator clearly understood the nature and quality of his acts and that they were likely to result in great bodily injury," Paulson explained. "Was he aware of the likely consequences of his actions?"

Bell, who remains in custody at Solano County Jail without bail, is tentatively scheduled for arraignment at 1:30 p.m. today in the Fairfield courtroom of Solano County Superior Court Commissioner Barbara James.

On Thursday, many parents accompanied their children to school Thursday. Tears and memories of the incident were shared as counselors from across the region arrived at the school.

"I heard the brakes and heard all the screeching and the smashing," said Darlene Murrell, a Davis Street resident. Knowing school had just let out and in fear for her daughter, 10-year-old Simone Johnson, Murrell rushed outside her home and came face-to- face with chaos.

"It's not just about my kids, it's other kids, too," she said softly. "This is horrible. This is just a nightmare."

Pat Short, also an area resident, was walking her grandson home when she saw the devastation.

"The little boy in the stroller apparently crawled out and collapsed," she said, her voice shaking. "I went over to comfort him."

The child's baby-sitter was caught between a car and the tree, she recalled.

Dave Nicholson, a Reporter circulation employee, was walking his three children home from school and had just crossed the street when the crash occurred. He later attempted to give aid to the Cardenas children, who subsequently died.

"I saw him coming down the street. There was nothing anybody could do," Nicholson said. "It was carnage."

Police personnel blocked area roadways for several hours as paramedics tended to the patients and investigators worked the scene.

The matter remains under investigation.

Kimberly K. Fu can be reached at cops@thereporter.com.

Details still few in Vacaville crash

Oakland Tribune, Oct 21, 2005 by Kimberly K. Fu, STAFF WRITER

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