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IRH~ SDSU athletes en van crashes
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By .lot•
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Lockwood column
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A shredded left r ar lire near the overturned van led the HP to spec- ulate at first that the 19-y r-0ld stu-
d nt who wa dnvlng lost control wh n th• lire blew out Late y ter- day, however, investigator said they JU t weren't sure how th accident happ ned "We know they wer dnving fast - we know that for a fact," CHP poke man Bob Arnold said. Ofhc rs found several beer cans in th van, h id. which ' 1 one of the aspects" of the invesllgallon. e REW on Crew. Three SDSU athletes die when van crashes Contmu d from •1 ;z. It hough the CHP I convinced
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Arnold said. 'There "'ere alcoholic beverage container found at the scene and ob- viously that is one of the aspects we will be investigating," he said. "We didn't find a lot four or five con- tainers. It could be significant - then again. maybe not.'' Arnold aid some containers "were full and some were not." Moment before the 8:22 p.m. acci- de t Arnold said, CHP patrol officer Gen E.sklund, parked off northbound 1-5. po tted the van outhbound at 'about 85 mph The officer turn d a ound (because) of the van. It was a quarter or a nule down the road.
"He saw a cloud of dust. It was the van - and people were scattered all over the place. "The tire was shredded - it could've been blown, but maybe it was the speed." Arnold said. "The (van\ rolled within the traffic lane itself twice and then turned the di- vider. Freeman, one of the SDSU passen- gers inJured in the crash, quest10ned ,whether the van was traveling the speed CHP said it was going. The van was ' going over the speed limit, but not faster than the other traffic," Freeman said. CHP investigators conceded that
an exact speed rating was unavaila- ble because radar was not used. Driver Farrage was wearing a seat belt and was not ejected from the van. However, he was "trapped by the doorpost" and CHP officers "had to cut the seat belt'' to pull him out, CHP officials said. "The driver would have been dead if he was not belted in," Arnold said. Farrage suffered second- and third-degree burns on his legs and feet after a small fire erupted in the engine. He was treated at Los Banos Community Hospital and later re- leased.
that the van wa · traveling well be- yond the posted 55-mph speed limit when the accident occurred. no charges have been filed against the driver Authorities said they are awaiting the results of blood tests from the driver, Farrage, and toxicology re- ports of th victims. Farrage "will- ingly ubm1tt d 11 blood ample but wa. not asked to ubmtt to a breathalyzer t I becaus the CHP officer on the cen did not bcheve it neC' ary, Arnold aid The officer "felt there was insuffi- cient evidence to arrest anybody,"
The San Diego lnion
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San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (Cir. D. 127,454) ~1 3 nu,.,. ·. p c. B ' ,
, s SDSU mourns deaths of 3 thletes in crash J/ By Toe ~Iughes Tnbune St.JI/ It r1/er
tiple cuts. abrasions, ano burns. The dead, all San Diego State Uni- versity students, were identified as Mark A Skinner, 19, of Clairemont; Derek Guelker, I~. of Orange, a freshman who had not declared a m3'or; and James O'Hara, 20, of En- glewood, Colo., a sophomore studying business administration. Skinner, a Clairemont High School graduate, was a son of Mr and Mrs. Rodney Skmner of 4477 Jutland Drive. He was a freshman English major with a near-perfect 3.7 grade point average at si:x;u, and bad just won a gold medal in the rowing con- tests. his father said today. Shortly before the fatal crash, Mark's crew won the junior varsity lightweight title in the weekend competition. Mark had always been a top ath- lete, although ro\\ mg was a new in- terest for him, his fath r ecalled. At Clairemont High, he won letters in wrestling. track and football. He hoped to be a journalist ·The SDSU team won four titles in all and secured a berth in the nation- al college rowing championships June 12 in Cincinnati hours before the accident, whic remains under Please see MOUR B-3
.- ACCIDENT SCENE IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Three members of the SDSU crew team were killed when their van overturned Sunday
Flags at San Diego State Universi- ty were at half-staff today as the school observed a mourning period for three student athletes returning from a victorious colleg" rowing meet who were killed Sunday in a fiery San Joaquin Valley auto acci- dent that injured IO others. chool President Thomas Day or- dered the penod or mourning after expressing condolences to the surviv- ing family member for what he called a 'tragic, unfortunate mc1- dent." Aschool spokeswoman said it was the worst tragedy the school has had to deal with. Avan loaded with 13 athletes - 12 men and a woman - en route home from the Pacific Coast Rowing Championship at Lake Natoma east or Sacramento, went out of control, rolled everal times and caught fire on southbound Interstate 5 near Santa Nella, the California Highway Patrol reported Five of the athletes injured in the wreck remained hospitalized and in air condition at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto. Five others were released after being treated for mul-
*Mourr1 Continued From B-1 investigation.
Asupervising nurse at the ho~pital said today that Starkey was m se- rious but stable condition. The four others were all in fair condilion, she said. , Mike Datte, the rowing teams coach, said more than 50 people par- ticipated in the races on Lake Nato- ma. "It was a very fine team effort, winning four titles," Datte said. ·:we planned to go to the intercollegiate national championships next month in Cincinnati." In Cincinnati, the best of the West would meet the best of the East for national honors. Datte said if money can be raised throug~ private donations, the te~m would still attempt to make the trip. Tribune Staff Writer J oho McLaren contributed lo this report.
"This is considered a maJor acci- dent because of the number of vic- tims involved" the spokesman said. "We have fiv~ officers probing it; we might even go as high as six." Sue Rainey, a spokeswoman for the university, said the van had been leased by the rowing team members and was not school property. She said as far as she knew there had been "no breach of school regulations" in using a rental vehicle. . . Others injured and still hospital- ized in Modesto include Mark Star- key Liz Ciarrochi, Brian Elie!, Jeff M~rehouse and Dan Wright. Wright Elie! and Ciarrochi un- derwent 'surgery yesterday. Ciarro- chi the only woman in the van, is a sophomore at the University of Sa!J...., Diego. others attend San Diego "Stace.
. "Tire failure and excessive speed were the two contributing factors to the accident," said Robert Esklund, a highway patrol officer who pursued the van for four miles before 1t crashed. Esklund said he is not sure he could have prevented the accident if he had been able to stop the van be- fore the accident. "If a tire did blow, it could have happened at any time." Esklund said Joseph Farrage, 19, who was driving the van, sustained third-degree burns, and was released from the Los Banos Community Hos- pital after treatment yesterday. Es_k- Iund said no citations have been ts· sued. Another CHP spokesman said cans of beer were found in the wreckage.