Three students airlifted to San Jose hospitals, while the driver
walks away from scene uninjured
Gilroy – Three Gilroy High School football players were airlifted to San Jose area hospitals after suffering injuries sustained when their vehicle burst through a guardrail, rolled and came to rest in a ditch on Santa Teresa Boulevard Monday afternoon.
Jay Raven, the driver of the white Acura, walked away from the single-car accident with barely a scratch.
Passengers Chris Hernandez, a senior, and Sebastian Muro, a junior, were both ejected from the vehicle and were transported to San Jose Regional Medical Center. Mike Kuzinich, a senior, was flown by Life Flight to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.
But by Monday evening all three students were in good condition. Kuzinich and Hernandez were treated and released and Muro was treated for a dislocated hip and was expected to spend the night at the hospital.
When reached by phone Monday evening, Darren Yafai, said he was happy to hear that all of his varsity football players weren’t seriously injured. Yafai, who also teaches history at Gilroy High School, said he doesn’t know the details of the accident, but does know typical teen driving habits.
“I tell them every week, wear your seatbelts, drive slow,” he said.
Raven was driving north on Santa Teresa Boulevard, near Thomas Road, when for unknown reasons he swerved into the southbound lane and into the ditch, said Gilroy Fire Department Captain Art Amaro.
“It appears that the driver lost control,” he said.
During the police interview with Raven, he heard “some sort of pop … and that caused him to lose control and crash,” said Gilroy Police Sgt. Kurt Svardal.
From the look of the tire marks on the road, Svardal said it doesn’t appear they were speeding, but that more information will be available today.
In the afternoon sun, crowds of onlookers watched from behind a chain-link fence in a vacant field, as paramedics strapped Kuzinich onto a stretcher and waited for the second helicopter. Raven stood near Kuzinich, above the car in the ravine, talking to his mom, who showed up at the scene. Also on scene was the owner of the Acura, 17-year-old GHS student Josh Sterling.
Sterling said he handed the keys to his Acura to Raven during lunchtime Monday because he had to pick up some things.
“I let him borrow it,” he said.
Sterling said he was in class when he received a call from his friend informing him of the accident.
Besides the barely visible sprinkles of dirt peppering Raven’s white T-shirt there were no signs that the GHS senior and football player had just survived a serious accident. When asked how he was, Raven said “I’m fine” before officers took him aside for questioning.
What is known for sure is that the four students decided to ditch class Monday. Hernandez, Muro and Kuzinich were marked absent during fifth period, which begins right after lunch and Raven was absent all day, according to school officials.
Although police think the students were ejected because they weren’t wearing their seatbelts, fellow GHS student Jiana Escobar said now is not the time to talk about learning lessons.
“Just the most important thing is that they’re OK and that they all alive,” said the 17-year-old senior.
