California police hunt driver who killed Pinoy family

LOS ANGELES — Police are on the hunt for a drag-racing driver who crashed head-on into the car of a Filipino family of three on Warren Road near Lake Skinner in Winchester on June 30. While investigators skim through leads, relatives and friends of Andres San Agustin, 48, his wife, Maribeth, 36, and 4-year-old son, Angelo, start a long, painstaking process of healing and closure. Andres, a Navy medical corpsman stationed at Camp Pendleton, and Maribeth died at the scene, about 100 yards south of the entrance to the Lake Skinner Recreation Area. Angelo, who still had a heartbeat after the crash, was rushed to Rancho Springs Medical Center in Murrieta, where he died an hour later. Andres had joined the military when he was in his mid-30s and served seven months in Iraq doing medical support work in 2007. Andres and wife, both devotees of Iglesia ni Kristo (Church of Christ), were born in the Philippines where most of their relatives still live. “When my brother-in-law was in Iraq, I played his part as head of family. I drove them since my sister doesn’t drive. I drive 100 miles to get to their house, and bring them to Church, grab groceries," L.A. resident Ariel Pagaspas, Maribeth’s older brother said. “I was always here to check them out if they’re okay. If I’m not here, I am always on the phone with my sister, it’s really a big, deep loss," he added. The fatal collision occurred about 8:10 p.m. on that Sunday evening near the entrance to the park when the 2007 GMC pickup of the suspect allegedly crossed over double-yellow lines into the path of the northbound 1991 Chevrolet Malibu driven by San Agustin, the California Highway Patrol reported. The CHP identified suspects but had not released their names as of press time. Investigators said evidence was found inside the truck, and that officers were tracking down several leads they hoped would help them find the GMC driver and whoever helped that person flee. Catching the suspect Pagaspas said that witnesses who talked to him knew the ethnicity of the suspect, who somehow managed to hop onto another truck and took off, but he’d rather wait for the police’s conclusive findings. “All we know is they caught the accomplice, and that the hit-and-run driver has previous police record, but we haven’t established his nationality or ethnicity although people who were at the scene told us what they know. We can’t really establish that unless the police tell us so," he said. “But we are confident we are going to catch this guy." A resident who lives off Warren Road near the crash site said the truck had landed on its roof and that what was left of the family’s car was about 2-feet high when he saw it towed away. “It was an absolute crumpled mess," David MacKichan told the San Diego/Riverside-based North County Times. “It was pretty disturbing." Officers searched for the pickup’s driver from the air and on ground, with at least one canine unit, and searched a neighbor’s barn, he said. “They (the Agustins) are heavily damaged. They tried to reconstruct them but they don’t look the same, it’s okay to look at them but they look different. If you know them, you will say that they are not the same persons," Pagaspas said. The San Agustin family lived in a new neighborhood off Winchester and Pourroy roads, which is within a five-mile radius of the scene, or 10 miles north of Temecula. “According to our lawyer, the back roads here are very notorious for drag racing," added Pagaspas. The night of the deadly crash, the Agustins had left a nephew’s birthday party in Temecula. On the way to church Pagaspas said that the family probably planned to stop by their church’s weekly prayer meeting on the way, but never made it. Andres San Agustin had lived in the United States for more than 20 years and was a citizen, Pagaspas said. A friend from the Philippines introduced the couple, and after a long-distance courtship of about a year, they got married. For more than two years, Pagaspas said, they were stationed in Japan and their son, Angelo, was born there. “They are perfect for each other, they are friends to everyone, so dedicated to their faith," he said. Maribeth’s parents, Carmen and Benito and brother Philbert—residents of Jala-Jala in Rizal province—have already accepted what happened, said Pagaspas, “but until now… when I saw the basketball that I gave Angelo on his birthday last June 5, I cried. How much more for my parents?" The remains of the Agustins will be flown to Manila on Saturday, July 19. A memorial service is set at the Manila Memorial Park in Paranaque the following day. - Philippine News