It's an unsettling sight, a car smashed from end to end, beer cans on the floor, possible remnants from the night before. Alicia Vargas says her brother was driving the car when it crashed. "With the family... he was good, he was a little rebel but he was a good brother."
Her brother wasn't behind the wheel the whole time. Moments before the crash, Porterville Police pulled the car over for running a red light. As the driver, 24-year-old Juan Carlos Hernandez was being arrested for DUI, police say Vargas jumped into the driver's side and took off.
Officer Dominic Barteau with Porterville Police said, "The officer alerted other officers to respond to try to find the vehicle... as officers were responding to the area, we were already getting reports of a traffic collision."
The car crashed about a mile away near Plano and Park Drive. Police say Vargas lost control, the car rolled several times and hit a tree. Vargas died at the scene, he was just 18-years-old.
Alicia Vargas says her brother lived by a reckless motto, YOLO, meaning "You Only Live Once." "He always believed in that word YOLO, that's what happens when you live the lifestyle of YOLO," Vargas added.
A 15-year-old girl also died. She was ejected from her seat and pronounced dead at the hospital. Only one person survived, an 18-year-old woman named Bianka Romero. She's recovering at the hospital with several broken bones.
Police say alcohol was involved but investigators aren't sure if Vargas or any of the other passengers had been drinking.
Officer Barteau said, "They're gonna be looking today to see if they can find any contraband or anything to help detectives understand why he fled the way he did."
It'll take a toxicology report to figure out whether Vargas was drinking. It could take weeks for the results to come back.
The original driver, Juan Carlos Hernandez could be facing DUI and resisting arrest charges. Police say the woman who survived the crash will probably not be charged.
TXT 24
Twitter
Facebook