News
Man dies in auto wreck after fleeing checkpoint
Derek Jordan/Wick Communications
One man was killed after a high-speed pursuit on Highway 90 involving a stolen car containing a load of marijuana resulted in a two-vehicle wreck in Benson on Monday.
Edgar G. Castro, 21, of Sierra Vista died when the 2001 Saturn he was driving collided into another vehicle when he swerved to avoid an RV making a turn at the intersection of Highway 90 and Whetstone Commerce Drive.
An 18-year-old passenger in the car was airlifted to University Medical Center in Tucson for his injuries and was later released, said Lt. Paul Moncada, public information officer for the Benson Police Department.
While at the scene, law enforcement officers discovered 120 pounds of marijuana in the trunk of the Saturn, Moncada said.
Castro and the passenger, whose name is not being released by authorities, were stopped at the Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 90 around 1 p.m. when they began acting suspiciously during routine questioning, he said.
"The driver and passenger, from the information we received, were a little nervous," Moncada said.
Castro was then asked to pull the car forward to the secondary inspection point when he accelerated, Moncada said. Two Border Patrol vehicles followed in pursuit.
As the Saturn approached the intersection of Whetstone Commerce Drive and Highway 90, a recreational vehicle traveling south on the highway was turning left into the Gas City complex. Castro swerved to avoid it, sliding into the southbound lanes and colliding driver's side first into a stopped 1997 Ford Explorer, killing him.
After being released from UMC, the passenger has as of yet not been taken into custody, but has been interviewed by Arizona Department of Public Safety officers, Moncada said.
The two individuals in the Explorer, a man and a woman, were taken to the Benson hospital for minor injuries and were released later that day, he said.
According to the Sierra Vista Police Department, the Saturn was reported stolen by a resident in the 1500 block of East Busby Drive at 2:30 p.m. Monday.
Traffic was rerouted at the scene until 5 p.m. while numerous agencies assisted with the wreck, including the Benson Police Department, the DPS, the Cochise County Sheriff's Office, the Benson Fire Department, the Arizona Department of Transportation, and a ranger from Kartchner Caverns State Park.
(Derek Jordan is a reporter at the Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review.)
One man was killed after a high-speed pursuit on Highway 90 involving a stolen car containing a load of marijuana resulted in a two-vehicle wreck in Benson on Monday.
Edgar G. Castro, 21, of Sierra Vista died when the 2001 Saturn he was driving collided into another vehicle when he swerved to avoid an RV making a turn at the intersection of Highway 90 and Whetstone Commerce Drive.
An 18-year-old passenger in the car was airlifted to University Medical Center in Tucson for his injuries and was later released, said Lt. Paul Moncada, public information officer for the Benson Police Department.
While at the scene, law enforcement officers discovered 120 pounds of marijuana in the trunk of the Saturn, Moncada said.
Castro and the passenger, whose name is not being released by authorities, were stopped at the Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 90 around 1 p.m. when they began acting suspiciously during routine questioning, he said.
"The driver and passenger, from the information we received, were a little nervous," Moncada said.
Castro was then asked to pull the car forward to the secondary inspection point when he accelerated, Moncada said. Two Border Patrol vehicles followed in pursuit.
As the Saturn approached the intersection of Whetstone Commerce Drive and Highway 90, a recreational vehicle traveling south on the highway was turning left into the Gas City complex. Castro swerved to avoid it, sliding into the southbound lanes and colliding driver's side first into a stopped 1997 Ford Explorer, killing him.
After being released from UMC, the passenger has as of yet not been taken into custody, but has been interviewed by Arizona Department of Public Safety officers, Moncada said.
The two individuals in the Explorer, a man and a woman, were taken to the Benson hospital for minor injuries and were released later that day, he said.
According to the Sierra Vista Police Department, the Saturn was reported stolen by a resident in the 1500 block of East Busby Drive at 2:30 p.m. Monday.
Traffic was rerouted at the scene until 5 p.m. while numerous agencies assisted with the wreck, including the Benson Police Department, the DPS, the Cochise County Sheriff's Office, the Benson Fire Department, the Arizona Department of Transportation, and a ranger from Kartchner Caverns State Park.
(Derek Jordan is a reporter at the Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review.)
Copyright © 2012 - San Pedro Valley News-Sun