Noemi Perez, who was an outstanding student athlete at Arvin High and ready for her freshman season on the Cal State Bakersfield track team, had hopes and dreams and the world at her doorstep.
None of that will be possible now.
Perez, 18, was killed Sunday night in what the California Highway Patrol said was an accident caused by a drunken driver.
“She was going to make something of herself,” said Robert Boyles, CSUB assistant track coach who works with distance runners. “She was just a sweet, nice young lady who always had a friendly, happy smile.”
According to the CHP, Francisco Nestor Santo of Arvin was driving east on Highway 223 east of Vineland Road at about 7 p.m. when he entered the westbound lane and hit a vehicle driven by Bakersfield resident Francisco Becerra.
Santo, 22, continued driving eastbound in the westbound lane after striking Becerra’s vehicle and then collided with a 2000 Hyundai, killing Perez, officers said. Officers arrested Santo at Kern Medical Center, where he was being treated for moderate injuries.
Becerra was uninjured.
There were “obvious signs” Santo was drunk and blood was taken from him for testing to see what his blood alcohol content was, officers said. Santo was booked Monday morning after being released from the hospital.
Santo was arrested on suspicion of charges including DUI, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving without a license and failure to provide proof of insurance, the CHP said.
At Arvin High, Perez competed in track, volleyball, basketball and softball.
She graduated last spring and was named Arvin High’s outstanding female athlete her senior year.
She helped Arvin win South Sequoia League titles in volleyball (2006) and basketball (2007) and was voted most inspirational athlete in volleyball, basketball and track. Her goal was to become a high school teacher.
“She was with me four years in my track program,” said Johnny Watson, Arvin’s track coach. “She was one of the first girls from here who were going to run at the college level.”
Watson said Perez was a strong student who prepared for CSUB by taking advanced placement and college prep classes.
“She was very popular, always had a smile on her face. Someone you always wanted to be around,” said Arvin Athletic Director Ralph Gonzales.
“When I think of her I think of her tenacity,” Gonzales said. “She was relentless in whatever she did.”
Watson said the last time he saw Perez was Thursday, when she showed up unannounced at his classroom.
“She had gotten a new phone and when I talked to her the last thing she wanted was my number,” Watson said. “I texted her, ‘I believe in you.’ She laughed. She was standing right there and gave me a hug. Then she left.”
Perez is the second CSUB athlete from Arvin killed in an automobile accident in recent years. Jorge Jimenez, The Californian’sAll-Area Boys Soccer Player of the Year in 2003, was killed in a single-vehicle accident during his freshman year at CSUB.
Santo’s legal status was unknown because the CHP does not perform checks on whether someone is legally in the country, officers said. The car he was driving had Washington plates.
A search of the Kern County Superior Court records did not turn up any other arrests for Santo in the county.
— Staff writer Jason Kotowski contributed to this report
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