(Watsonville Police collect evidence at the scene of a fatal crash early Sunday morning on Main Street. Photo by Tarmo Hannula/Pajaronian)
WATSONVILLE — An 18-year-old Watsonville man died early Sunday in a solo-vehicle crash on Main Street.
Watsonville Police Sgt. Brian Ridgway said the man, identified by the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Coroner as Roman Quinonez, was traveling southbound on Main Street around 4:30 a.m. when, for unknown reasons, his Hyundai Elantra veered off the right shoulder. The car slammed into a large metal utility pole at Crossroads Square at Main Street under dry and clear conditions.
The impact squashed in the front end of the 2005 four-door and hurled car parts more than 100 feet from the crash site.
Watsonville firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to pry off doors and cut away crumpled metal in order to extricate the man. He was rushed to Watsonville Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead, Ridgway said.
Police shut down both lanes of southbound Main Street for about six hours from South Green Valley Road to allow for the investigation.
“He was always a very energetic and happy person,” said local mural artist Paul De Worken. “He was always glad to help out. I watched him growing up and he was just a cool guy.”
De Worken said Quinonez worked on numerous art projects that De Worken headed up around the community over the years.
“I knew him as a middle school student,” De Worken said. “He was happy to be in school. He was the kind of person that was always willing to try out new ideas, just like the group he hung around with. I liked him.”
Ceiba College Prep Executive Director Annie Millar said Quinonez attended Ceiba in middle school.
“Our school shares in the grief of the entire community,” she said.
He would have started his senior year in the fall at Sequoia High School, an alternative school run by the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, said SCCOE Director of Alternative Education Denise Sanson.
“He was definitely well-liked by students and staff,” she said.
The crash is still under investigation.
A makeshift altar began taking shape Monday at the site of the crash on Main Street. Photo by Tarmo Hannula/Pajaronian)
