Crime & Safety
Witness Describes Fatal Motorcycle Accident
"This Is A Terrible Tragedy. I am sorry for his family," said Carlos Ortiz, the driver of the vehicle involved in a fatal motorcycle accident in Baldwin Park.
Carlos Ortiz is still in shock. His voice trembles at times when he tells the details he can remember from last Sunday's accident, in which
"I am very sorry for his family, I don't know them but if I were in their place, I know the pain would be unbearable", said Ortiz about the family of
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"This was a terrible accident, a tragedy", he added.
According to authorities, the 19-year-old young man died after the motorcycle on which he was a passenger crashed against the side of a car pulling out of a driveway on Patriti Ave.
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According to Lt. David Reynoso, spokesperson for the Baldwin Park Police Department, investigators believe speed could have been a factor in the accident, but he explained that the investigation is still ongoing.
According to Ortiz, he was moving his car that day so that another vehicle could depart.
He said that he looked in the street and didn't see anybody around. However, when he was backing up onto the street, the motorcycle hit his car.
"It hit on this side of the car and then flew in the air", Ortiz said, pointing toward the side mirror of a car parked in front of his house. "If it had been a car like this, he would have gone through it, but my car is made of pure steel", he added.
Ortiz said he then saw the passenger lying on the street, about 50 feet from the car. He also said that the driver of the motorcycle hit some electrical wires.
His son, Isaias Ortiz, added that the tragedy could have been worse, because if his father had been in a different or newer vehicle made of less resistant materials, "he wouldn't be here telling us what happened".
"This was an accident, and we are sorry for the loss of one person and hope the driver recovers soon", he added.
The residents of a house that has become a makeshift altar with candles and notes said that the accident has caused a lot of commotion in the neighborhood.
"They knocked down even the high wires", said Uriel Camino. "One of them fell over by the electrical posts. It was horrible, it is sad for his family", he said, pointing at the altar.
On Monday evening, almost a hundred of Lupian's friends gathered on a vigil to honor his memory.
Many have left messages, flowers and candles at the site where the young man lost his life.
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