A 17-year-old boy was killed early Monday morning in an automobile crash just south of Gilroy.
Alexander Armlin, a resident of Tres Pinos, was driving a 1998 Chevy northbound on Bolsa Road north of Bloomfield Avenue around 8 a.m. when his vehicle crossed the double yellow line and sideswiped a 2002 Nissan driven by Gilroy resident Miriam Tinoco, 31, who was traveling south, according to a CHP report.
Armlin’s vehicle continued along the southbound lane, struck a tree, and came to a stop at the bottom of the embankment, the report stated. Emergency responders pronounced him dead at the scene at 8:40 a.m.
The report indicated that Tinoco was uninjured.
A witness estimated that Armlin’s vehicle had been traveling about 60 miles per hour, according to the report. Tinoco’s vehicle had been traveling at approximately 35 to 40 mph. The speed limit is 35 miles per hour.
CHP is currently investigating the accident. It is unknown whether alcohol or drugs were involved.
Armlin was a student of Gilroy Early College Academy, a college preparatory program for high school students, Gilroy Unified School District superintendent Deborah Flores wrote in a letter. The academy is a partnership between GUSD and Gavilan College.
The school district has provided counselors to help grieving students cope with the loss of their classmate, Flores wrote.
“As always during periods of crisis, I am sure GUSD and the entire Gilroy community will pull together and support each other through this time of overwhelming loss,” Flores wrote. “This loss to our community is a somber reminder of just how precious life is.”
“Alex was a beloved member of the GECA family, remembered by his teachers and fellow students for his wonderful smile and as a smart, honest, and kind-hearted individual,” Flores added. “His passions included a love of ’80s rock music and classic cars.”
Armlin was the fifth high school student in Gilroy to die in a traffic accident this year.
On May 12, Yesenia Mendoza Pina, Yolanda Jimenez, and Sara Williams, all 18-year-old seniors at GUSD high schools, were riding in the same vehicle when the driver crashed into a ditch off Leavesley Road, the Dispatch reported.
The driver, 23-year-old Anthony Imbronone III, was arrested and charged with drunken driving. Twenty-four-year-old Joseph Vasquez Flemate was also killed.
Imbronone was driving east on Leavesley when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a concrete drainage ditch, the Dispatch reported.
On May 9, Christopher High School sophomore Natalia Salcido, 15, was killed in a traffic accident. Salcido was riding in a car with two passengers when the vehicle veered off Miller Avenue and crashed into a tree. Salcido was alive but trapped in the vehicle. She died later after being being extracted and taken to the hospital.
The driver of the vehicle and another passenger escaped with only minor injuries. All three were students at Christopher High School.
Police did not suspect that alcohol or drugs were involved.
