Search fatalities

Alyssa Roman

Age : 19

Gender : Female

Race : White

Date : 04/14/2021

Location : Southbound Highway 1 at Morrissey Boulevard (near Dimeo Lane)

City : Santa Cruz

County : Santa Cruz

State : California

Agency : California Highway Patrol; Santa Cruz Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Passenger killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

.
REASON FOR CHASE: Passenger killed during speeding pursuit
.
NARRATIVE:
On 04/14/2021 at approximately 1:47 a.m., Alyssa Roman, 19, of San Jose was a passenger in a 2004 Toyota Camry traveling south on Highway 1 with three other young people from San Jose. California Highway Patrol officers first observed the Camry traveling at high speed north of Dimeo Lane and attempted a traffic stop. The driver continued south toward Santa Cruz while CHP pursued.
.
The Camry continued at high speed onto Mission Street and through Santa Cruz. Additional CHP units encountered the vehicle near Highway 1 and Highway 9 and again attempted to stop it. Santa Cruz police were also involved as the pursuit continued south on Highway 1.
.
Near Morrissey Boulevard, the driver attempted to take the off-ramp but struck a concrete curb, causing the Camry to pitch forward and crash into a metal guardrail. Approximately 20 feet of guardrail was damaged, and the wrecked Camry caught fire.
.
CHP officers pulled Roman and another passenger from the burning wreckage. Roman was pronounced dead at the scene. Passenger Kenny Tran, 20, and a 17-year-old female passenger were injured and hospitalized; later reporting described their injuries as minor. The driver, Richard A. Quihuis Jr., 19, suffered minor injuries and ran from the wreck before a CHP officer apprehended him.
.
Quihuis was arrested on allegations of felony DUI, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, felony evading police, felony hit-and-run and possession of a controlled substance. He was initially held in the Santa Cruz County Jail on $150,000 bail.
.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff-Coroner subsequently publicly identified Roman. CHP Officer Alyssa Gutierrez served as a department spokesperson concerning the pursuit, but the officers who actually initiated and participated in the chase were not identified in the public reporting located for this case.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The California Highway Patrol officers who pursued the Camry were not publicly identified.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://goodtimes.sc/san-jose-woman-dies-crash-high-speed-chase/
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/19-year-old-woman-killed-in-fiery-santa-cruz-crash-following-high-speed-chp-chase-driver-arrested/
https://kioncentralcoast.com/news/2021/04/14/one-person-killed-in-crash-following-chase-on-highway-1-at-morrissey/
https://patch.com/california/santacruz/fiery-highway-1-crash-ends-fatality-police-say
https://patch.com/california/santacruz/coroner-ids-victim-fiery-highway-1-crash