jeepinjp
08-04-2011, 09:15
Two Marines die in illegal street race
1:45 AM, Aug. 4, 2011 |
Comments (http://www.mydesert.com/comments/article/20110804/NEWS0804/108040304/Two-Marines-die-illegal-street-race)
http://cmsimg.gdn.mydesert.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/persbilde?Avis=J1&ID=200219&maxH=55&masW=55Kate McGinty (Kate.McGinty@thedesertsun.com)
The Desert Sun
Two Marines were killed early Saturday after their car crashed and burst into flames during an illegal street race in Twentynine Palms, officials said Wednesday.
Lance Cpl. Christian S. Mogrovejo, 20, was behind the wheel of the Nissan 350Z about 1:45 a.m. when he lost control of the car, careening off the road and crashing through a chain-link fence.
The car skidded hundreds of feet into Luckie Park, clipped a tree and spun sideways into a second tree before bursting into flames, investigators said Wednesday.
Witnesses tried to pull Mogrovejo and his passenger — Pfc. Jeffrey Kendall, 19 — out of the wreckage, but the flames and heat were too much.
By the time firefighters arrived, the Marines were burned beyond recognition, the San Bernardino County coroner's office said Wednesday in releasing the men's names.
The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms is mourning their deaths as deeply as those of any Marines killed in action, spokesman Capt. Nick Mannweiler told The Desert Sun.
“It's tragic. Anytime you lose a Marine, that's hard on the unit. There's no one that is expendable,” he said. “It's hard, regardless of how you lose a Marine.”
Both men enlisted on Sept. 20, 2010, and were assigned to 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.
Neither served in Afghanistan or Iraq, but each had been honored with the Global War on Terrorism and National Defense Service medals.
Kendall, a motor vehicle operator, was from Weld County, Colo.
Mogrovejo, an automotive organizational mechanic, was from Mercer County, N.J. He lived in town near the base with his wife, Mannweiler said.
The street on which they were racing borders Luckie Park, one of two community parks in Twentynine Palms, a city of about 25,000 people.
Speed was a contributing factor in the crash, but investigators don't know yet if alcohol or drugs were involved, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Arden Wiltshire said.
It will take several weeks before the Major Accidents Investigative Team files its report, and a toxicology report can take up to two months.
Investigators also do not know who was driving the silver vehicle the men were racing.
Neither the vehicle nor its driver have been been found.
1:45 AM, Aug. 4, 2011 |
Comments (http://www.mydesert.com/comments/article/20110804/NEWS0804/108040304/Two-Marines-die-illegal-street-race)
http://cmsimg.gdn.mydesert.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/persbilde?Avis=J1&ID=200219&maxH=55&masW=55Kate McGinty (Kate.McGinty@thedesertsun.com)
The Desert Sun
Two Marines were killed early Saturday after their car crashed and burst into flames during an illegal street race in Twentynine Palms, officials said Wednesday.
Lance Cpl. Christian S. Mogrovejo, 20, was behind the wheel of the Nissan 350Z about 1:45 a.m. when he lost control of the car, careening off the road and crashing through a chain-link fence.
The car skidded hundreds of feet into Luckie Park, clipped a tree and spun sideways into a second tree before bursting into flames, investigators said Wednesday.
Witnesses tried to pull Mogrovejo and his passenger — Pfc. Jeffrey Kendall, 19 — out of the wreckage, but the flames and heat were too much.
By the time firefighters arrived, the Marines were burned beyond recognition, the San Bernardino County coroner's office said Wednesday in releasing the men's names.
The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms is mourning their deaths as deeply as those of any Marines killed in action, spokesman Capt. Nick Mannweiler told The Desert Sun.
“It's tragic. Anytime you lose a Marine, that's hard on the unit. There's no one that is expendable,” he said. “It's hard, regardless of how you lose a Marine.”
Both men enlisted on Sept. 20, 2010, and were assigned to 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.
Neither served in Afghanistan or Iraq, but each had been honored with the Global War on Terrorism and National Defense Service medals.
Kendall, a motor vehicle operator, was from Weld County, Colo.
Mogrovejo, an automotive organizational mechanic, was from Mercer County, N.J. He lived in town near the base with his wife, Mannweiler said.
The street on which they were racing borders Luckie Park, one of two community parks in Twentynine Palms, a city of about 25,000 people.
Speed was a contributing factor in the crash, but investigators don't know yet if alcohol or drugs were involved, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Arden Wiltshire said.
It will take several weeks before the Major Accidents Investigative Team files its report, and a toxicology report can take up to two months.
Investigators also do not know who was driving the silver vehicle the men were racing.
Neither the vehicle nor its driver have been been found.