Prayers for Caprock High Baseball Team Players

My prayers go out to those injured and to their families...... this is a parents worst nightmare....

Web-posted Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Suit filed in Caprock crash

Parents of three Caprock High School students are suing two teenagers in a near-fatal crash last week by Interstate 40. Jeremy Louis Montoya-Molinas and Manny Sandoval Jr., were driving separate vehicles, but failed to control their speed and made an unsafe lane change that contributed to the Feb. 5 crash, according to a lawsuit filed Monday at District Court in Potter County.

"This was a cat-and-mouse game they were playing," Amarillo attorney Jesse L. Quackenbush said in a press conference. "These defendants were negligent." R.M. Kent and Manny Sandoval Sr., the registered owners of the two vehicles, also are named as defendants.

Quackenbush is representing the parents of Hector Villareal, Jr., Geoffry Zeissel and Johnny Yaw, who rode in the vehicle driven by Montoya-Molinas. Sandoval was driving alone in front of Montoya-Molinas. At some point, Montoya-Molinas allegedly veered into the middle lane. Sandoval pulled his vehicle into the same lane, nearly causing a collision, the court document says. Montoya-Molinas tried to avoid hitting the other vehicle, but overcorrected and ended up rolling over on the interstate, according to a police report. "He (Montoya-Molinas) attempted to take evasive action, but did so negligently," Quackenbush said.

Just a sad situation for all; students, parents, coaches & the school system.

Will pray for all involved in this tragedy. Every teen (and adult for that matter), pulls a dumb stunt every now and then. And occasionally, there are serious consequences.

Web-posted Thursday, February 15, 2007
Legal responsibility is no accident

Attorney Jesse Quackenbush, far right, and family members of Caprock High School baseball players discuss a recent vehicle accident.
Henry Bargas / henry.bargas@amarillo.com

What is amazing is that no one was killed when a 1999 GMC Jimmy carrying four Caprock High School baseball players jumped a four-foot barrier near East Interstate 40 and fell an estimated 15-20 feet to the ground. What isn't so surprising is what has happened since.

As soon as news of the tragic Feb. 5 accident hit the local news media, the wheels in the heads of many in the community started spinning.

The legal wreck is coming head-on.

Amarillo attorney Jesse Quackenbush, who represents the families of the three students who were passengers, is now playing traffic cop, blowing his whistle on the Amarillo Independent School District.

Just as sure as there will be a traffic jam during rush hour, the AISD faces a lawsuit.

"Right now, the school is taking a standoffish approach because of a waiver that the parents had signed. Right now, I have only that to go on," Quackenbush said Tuesday afternoon. "If that is their position that they are not going to take responsibility, then absolutely there will be a lawsuit against the school district, and against the coaches as well, individually."

Responsibility - that is the key word here.

The CHS players were traveling to a nearby indoor baseball facility for batting practice and took two of their own vehicles. According to reports, a player driving one of the vehicles was involved in some sort of shenanigans with the driver of the Jimmy, which included the three passengers. The vehicles were chasing each other in some sort of dangerous game on the interstate when the driver of the Jimmy braked suddenly and lost control. Considering the Jimmy jumped an interstate barrier, speed was obviously a factor. But how much of a factor was the school district?

Quackenbush questions the legality of the AISD waiver for off-campus activities, which any parent with a child in the AISD is familiar with.

The lawyers will have it out over the wording of this document, letter for letter.

However, that detracts from the direct responsibility of the kids - yes, kids.

If the state sees fit to issue a teenager a driver's license, shouldn't that same teenager be able to drive a few miles from CHS to Soncy without jeopardizing his life and the lives of his passengers?

The ultimate cause of this accident was not anyone in the AISD permitting students to drive each other to an off-campus practice, but rather it was the actions of two students that put all of them in danger.

Quackenbush already has filed a lawsuit against the drivers but said that lawsuit would not affect potential future litigation.

It will be at least a couple of months before the hammer drops.

According to state law, Quackenbush said he cannot file a lawsuit against the AISD until 60 days after a notice letter is sent to the appropriate officials. Quackenbush said he planned on doing this Wednesday.

"In the letter, we have to ask for a specific amount of money damages," Quackenbush said. "We're going to ask for a lot of money, just because we have to. There is a lot of uncertainty about the damages to one of the boys."

What is certain is that responsibility comes with a cost.

This responsibility shouldn't be misplaced.

Southpaw...terrible tragedy... It appears to me that the only winners in all this is the Lawyers...$$$$$.... Where do you fit into this?

John G.,
Simply, just an Amarillo resident. Two of my closest friends, golf & church buddies are long time Caprock coaches; baseball, football, track & golf.

I am only passing along the bad that sometimes goes with all the good in baseball. Helps us keep it all in perspective.

My thought and prayers are with all the people involved in this tragedy.

Hindsight being 20-20, here's a suggestion for other coaches who must depend upon non-ISD transportation from time to time. My son was heavily involved in choir and theater as well as baseball, and they often had to use personal vehicles to get to events. A notice came home for parent signature that:
1. Asked for parent volunteers to be drivers
2. Asked if your student could be a driver
3. Asked if your child could
a. ride with a parent volunteer
b. ride with a student volunteer
4. Asked if there were specific student drivers that your child should ride with and you as the parent wrote the names you would permit. Your child could not ride with any other volunteer student not listed.
Granted, this required you to be informed about who was in the group but at least you had the option.

This might provide some legal protection since the parent consented to the arrangement in advance.