CHP: Cloverdale teen likely killed watching street race

A 16-year-old Cloverdale High School junior was found dead Saturday morning, eight hours after she was struck by a car and thrown an estimated 150 feet while watching a street race, friends said.

Though the CHP and firefighters responded Friday to the 10:20 p.m. two-car crash, the teen’s body was not discovered on the sandy banks of the Russian River east of city limits until dawn the next morning. Details about what information was given to authorities and the extent of any search were unclear Saturday.

Authorities did not identify the dead teen Saturday, but numerous friends said it was 16-year-old Angelica Contreras, who was celebrating the end of her sophomore year at Cloverdale High this week.

Contreras’ tragic death has stunned this town of 8,600 on what was supposed to be a week of celebration. Classes wrapped up Thursday at Cloverdale High, and graduation ceremonies were Friday.

“All of Cloverdale is sad right now,” said Emily Vera, a 2005 Cloverdale High grad who visited the makeshift memorial site Saturday.

A framed photograph of Contreras, a wooden cross and several candles were placed at the base of a bridge post where someone spray-painted Contreras’ nickname - “Keka” - along with the words “Rest in Peace.” Friends said she grew up in Cloverdale and had four brothers and sisters.

“She was such a positive person. She didn’t care what people thought of her,” said classmate Daniela Ramirez, who was consoled by friends.

Authorities initially did not realize the magnitude of Friday’s crash, which involved a red Volkswagen Beetle and a silver BMW driven by teens. The occupants of the vehicles suffered only minor or no injuries in the crash. The cars were towed, but no one was taken to a hospital.

CHP Sgt. David Derczo said no witnesses on the night of the crash confirmed the report of street racing, so no arrests were made.

However, a girl, who visited the crash site Saturday evening and said she was standing with Contreras at the moment of impact, said people at the spot of the crash were obviously looking for Contreras. The friend, who declined to give her name, said the group used light from their cellphones to search for Contreras in the bushes near the bridge.

“We were screaming her name and she wouldn’t answer,” the girl said.

The girl described a harrowing scene leading up to the crash. She said Contreras and four other girls rode with the male driver of the Beetle out to the bridge. Three of the girls, including Contreras, got out of the car and stood near a temporary retaining wall at the bridge’s eastern end to watch the race unfold.

She said the drivers of the Beetle and the BMW sped off eastbound on the road where the speed limit is 50 mph. On the way back to the bridge, the Beetle entered the oncoming lane and sped up just as the BMW was turning left. The BMW apparently clipped the Beetle along the rear side of the car and spun it out of control.

The girl said one of her friends - not Contreras - pushed her out of the way when she realized a crash was about to happen. But she said nobody saw Contreras get hit.

“When we turned around, she wasn’t there anymore,” the girl said.

She said emergency responders were focused on a girl in the Beetle who was bleeding from the crash. Some assumed Contreras had run off to avoid getting in trouble. Her cellphone apparently was in the Beetle.

The discovery of Contreras’ body at about 6:45 a.m. Saturday by a passing cyclist changed the dynamic significantly.

The CHP dispatched an investigation team to Cloverdale on Saturday to collect evidence at the crash site and is now conducting a criminal investigation, according to Sgt. Ed Clarke of the agency’s San Jose division. He said an investigator from the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office also visited the site, a possible prelude to criminal charges being filed.

Clarke said the CHP is investigating the possibility the teen’s death stemmed from an illegal street race. He said the Beetle had to have been traveling at a high speed to propel Contreras 150 feet from where she had been standing.

The wall on Saturday was cracked and stained with red paint and black tire smears. Clarke pointed to where bushes were flattened alongside a path leading to the water’s edge where he said the teen’s body may have traveled after she was struck.

The teen’s body where it came to rest on the beach would have been in plain view to anyone passing by.

Vera, the Cloverdale High grad, said Contreras’ death is another tragic reminder of how teens can sometimes fall victim to unwise choices. She said she lost two brothers in a 1999 vehicle crash not far from where the teen was killed.

“They’re young and they want to have fun. But they don’t understand the consequences of their actions,” she said.

Staff Writer Eloísa Ruano González contributed to this report. You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @deadlinederek.