12-year-old boy and former tutor die of crash injuries

Billie Jo Jannen
The Alpine Sun
     ALPINE — A 12-year-old boy and his Viejas Indian School tutor were killed in unrelated accidents on rural roads Sunday evening, April 3.
     Young Robert La Chappa died as a result of neck injuries he sustained in a Willows Road crash and Fernando Garcia, 20, died in a crash with a border agent near Barratt Junction on Highway 94.
     Garcia was westbound on Highway 94 and at the wheel of a 1997 Ford Explorer. In the SUV with him were Antonio Gilbert, 29, and Ashley Lotero, 18, said Officer Brian Pennings of the California Highway Patrol.
     Agent Keith Jones of the U.S. Border Patrol, was eastbound in a marked Chevy Tahoe and later reported to officers that, at about 10:40 p.m., the approaching Ford moved over into the eastbound lane where the two vehicles collided.
     The crash occurred just east of Barratt Junction near Barratt School Road. 
     Pennings said one of the Garcia’s passengers and Jones had to be extricated from the crushed SUVs and Garcia was pronounced dead at the scene. Jones sustained major leg injuries and Lotero, a broken arm in the crash.
Robert LaChappa, a former student of Garcia’s, was a passenger in the 1991 Chevrolet Cavalier driven by Susan LaChappa, 25.
     At about 11:20 p.m., LaChappa was stopped in the eastbound lane of Willows Road and waiting for an opening to turn left onto Viejas Grade Road, Pennings said.
     Behind the Chevy, Leslie Starling, 44, of Alpine, was eastbound in a 2000 Ford Escort and, Pennings said, traveling at a high rate of speed.
     Starling later reported that he didn’t see LaChappa’s car in time to avoid it and the Ford rear-ended the Chevy.
Robert LaChappa, later determined to have a broken neck, went into cardiac arrest and was rescisitated at the scene. He died the next day at Children’s Hospital, Pennings said.
     LaChappa, who is pregnant, complained of pain to her midsection and was transported to Sharp Memorial, Pennings said.
     Starling was uninjured in the accident but was later taken to the hospital after being assaulted and beaten, Pennings said.
     A receptionist at the Alpine Sheriff’s Substation said there were no officers in the office who could offer details about the assault.
                                                             E-MAIL BILLIE JO JANNEN