Alcohol, drugs not a factor in fatal accident
| By Reggie Ellis |
Updated: Wednesday, December 26, 2007 9:48 AM PST |
Lindsay police officials said neither the truck driver nor the victims involved in a fatal accident Dec. 3 had any drugs or alcohol in their systems.
Sgt. Nave said toxicology reports found no signs of drugs or alcohol in the driver of the truck, 41-year-old Francisco Carrasco, or the two women that were killed in the accident, friends and roommates Debra Aginaga, 48, and Pamela Reed, 52, both of Lindsay. Nave said that the department's investigation has been completed, but did not release the exact cause of the accident. The case has been forwarded to the District Attorney's Office, which will decide whether or not the truck driver will be charged with a crime.
Aginaga and Reed died Dec. 3 after a semi-truck backed over the two women as they walked back from the Olivewood Shopping Center to their apartment along a private drive along Highway 65 in Lindsay.
The Lindsay Police Department said that the two women were pushing shopping carts in the same direction the truck was backing up when they were ran over.
Investigators are unsure exactly why the women didn't see or hear the truck. Police said the truck did not appear to have a warning beeper but did not know if it was required. As of press time, police were awaiting the toxicology report on the driver of the truck. The private road was quickly repaved, but a single rose planted on the side remains as a reminder of the tragedy.
Tomas Aginaga, Debra's father, is trying to raise enough money to bury his daughter but is asking the community for help with the nearly $6,000 cost of the funeral. Tomas and his wife, Porfiria Martinez, have set up a memorial account (#0320221280) with the Lindsay branch of Bank of the Sierra, located at 142 S. Mirage Ave.
Reed was buried at the Lindsay Strathmore Public Cemetery on Dec. 7. The Lindsay native was preceded in death by her husband, Billy Reed, in 2004. She is survived by her 15-year-old son Eric.
The two women were best friends and had lived in at Lindsay Family Apartments together along with the boy since 2005.
Both women were known throughout Lindsay as they walked the town collecting cans from businesses to recycle and make a little extra money.
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