Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart killed in accident

[Neecy]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart was among the three people killed in a crash in Fullerton when a driver ran a red light, an associate of the rookie player said this morning. The crash occurred hours after the 22-year-old appeared in Wednesday night's Angels game.

He died in the accident that occurred shortly after midnight at the intersection of Orangethorpe Avenue and Lemon Street in Fullerton, said Lt. Craig Brower of the Fullerton Police Department. Several witnesses told police that the driver of a red minivan ran a red light at the intersection, hitting a silver Mitsubishi carrying four people. Two people were pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, authorities said. Two others were taken to a nearby hospital, where a third person was later pronounced dead, Brower said.

The driver of the minivan fled on foot shortly after the accident but was taken into custody on suspicion of hit and run when police found him a mile away, Brower said. Further charges are pending as the investigation continues, he said. A passenger in the minivan was taken to Western Medical Center, authorities said. The condition of that person was unknown.

A third vehicle also was involved, but there were no reports of any injuries.

Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/04/angels-pitcher-nick-adenhart-killed-in-accident.html

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I watched the Angels-A's game last night and this kid pitched a terrific six innings. Very sad news.

[closeupready]

1. That is sad.

:cry:

[Barack_America]

2. Wow, that is so sad.

And terrifying.

Life is so fragile.

[xxqqqzme]

3. I watched the game too.

This is very sad, very sad.

[swilton]

4. There are just too many cars on the road!

Too little infrastructure to safely accommodate our over abundance of motor vehicles - we can never fix all of the pot-holes much less have safe drivers (distracted by cell-phones, a bad day or whatever). The answer is not more roads - we could never create enough to maintain them or to accommodate our lust for motor vehicles. Our over consumption is killing the planet and its inhabitants. :crazy:

[Rebubula]

9. What???

So...a guy who was likely drunk runs a redlight and YOU want to blame infrastructure??

Sometimes the disconnect is insane around here...

[Throd]

12. Huh?

Orangethorpe & Lemon is adequate for the demands of traffic. You are taking the focus off of some idiot drunk driver and turning it into an anti-car screed.

[Dreamer Tatum]

13. I think there is one too many people posting things on the Internet nt

[SemperEadem]

14. your whole post is non sequitur to this story

[Zavulon]

23. No, there are too many drunk drivers on the road.

As for your post, you honestly think your theory explains this kid's death? Have you ever seen the intersection in question? How well-versed are you in the traffic patterns of the area? Do you know the BAC of the guy who hit him? Please, give us specifics.

Judging by your post, we should lose thousands of people on the roads per day. :eyes:

[Blue_Tires]

5. very sad

i hope the punishment is even harsher for that piece of shit who tried to flee

[Neecy]

7. LA media is reporting the POS was drunk

[Initech]

6. WTF???????

Holy crap!!! I was at the game last night. He pitched beautifully for the first six innings. Wow, that is sad.

[LisaM]

8. That is very sad

peace to his family and friends for this senseless accident.

I understand that driver was drunk, but I think we are experiencing the problems of an untrained driving force. Our high school driver ed was three months long and stringent. They've cut driver's ed from a lot of schools (if not all) and I have noticed a real dropoff in driving skills. Drivers are aggressive, they don't pay attention, they tailgate, talk on phones, seem to have no concept of when to use a turn signal, don't slow down at yellow lights, you name it. They also have larger cars that they can't seem to handle. Throw alcohol into the mix and now you have a non-yielding, aggressive, no-attention paying drunk. Not a good combination.

I feel very sorry for the families of every passenger involved.

[jobycom]

10. Wow. Three people killed by one sorry drunk. Too sad.

I had never heard of Adenhart. What a terrible thing for his fans, and for all the victims. :cry:

[nonconformist]

17. The poor kid was a rookie, started his first game hours before the crash.

He had tons of potential, pitched a perfect six innings in his first start. :(

[Zavulon]

22. Actually...

he had at least one start last year, beating the White Sox. He's still a rookie because he didn't pitch enough innings last year to disqualify him for Rookie of the Year this year.

[nyy1998]

11. RIP Nick Adenhart

Very sad story.

[Baclava]

15. RIP, so sad - they caught the perp

From the Orange Country Register...

Andrew Thomas Gallo, 22, fled the scene, according to police. Gallo, of Riverside, was later arrested and charged with felony hit-and-run. The passenger in the van, Raymond Alexander Rivera, 21, was taken to Western Medical Center-Anaheim with minor injuries.

[closeupready]

19. Wow. What a scumbag.

Throw the book at him.

[LisaL]

21. Information about the alleged perp.

"Andrew Thomas Gallo, 22, of Riverside, fled the crash scene on foot and was captured by police about 30 minutes later. He was booked on charges of hit-and-run driving under the influence, both felonies, along with vehicular manslaughter and possibly murder. Preliminary results indicated Gallo's blood-alcohol level was above the leagal limit of .08 percent, police Lt. Kevin Hamilton said."

http://www.pe.com/sports/breakout/stories/PE_News_Local_S_webpitcher1.14a7f35.html

[Baclava]

26. Driver of van up on possible murder charges

"The suspect, identified as Andrew Thomas Gallo, 22, will be booked on suspicion of felony hit and run, driving under the influence of alcohol, vehicular manslaughter, and possibly murder, according to Fullerton police Lt. Kevin Hamilton."

Looks like this is him...



The first mugshot of Andrew Gallow on the left is from an '06 arrest for being drunk in public. We also got our hands on court documents from his DUI, which was also in '06, in which Gallow wrote this haunting sentence:

"I understand that if I continue to drink and drive it may result in death or serious bodily injury to another person."


The middle pic of Gallow is his bloody mugshot from a March '07 arrest for drunk and disorderly conduct.

We've just obtained a photo of Andrew Gallo, who was driving the van that caused the accident that killed Nick Adenhart and two others.

Cops believe Gallo was driving under the influence and on a suspended license because of a prior DUI. He fled the scene and was arrested. Gallo could be booked on murder charges, along with vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run and felony DUI.

http://www.tmz.com/2009/04/09/this-is-the-guy-who-caused-the-adenhart-crash/

[AnAnonymousDemocrat]

16. He may have survived in a bigger, heavier vehicle

This is a reminder that bigger, heavier vehicles are safer than smaller ones. You never know when someone is going to run a red light or make some other mistake that can result in a loss of life. If you want to protect yourself, you should own the biggest, heaviest vehicle you can - within reason, of course.

[catzies]

18. Guess you're sincere and not sarcastic, so I have to enlighten you.

"Bigger = safer" is a myth. Educmacate yourself:

http://www.gladwell.com/2004/2004_01_12_a_suv.html

http://www.autospies.com/news/SUV-s-safer-than-cars-Now-you-can-throw-that-myth-out-the-window-4814/

http://www.emagazine.com/view/?3032

Despite the SUVs weighing an average of 1,300 extra pounds (a measure of safety in the public mind), a study of accidents involving almost 4,000 kids under 16 found nearly identical 1.7 percent child injury rates. The extra weight did increase safety (reducing injury risk by a third), but in the case of top-heavy SUVs that gain is balanced by their propensity to roll over at more than twice the rate of cars. And kids in rollovers are three times more likely to be hurt.

"We're not saying they're worse or that they're terrible vehicles," Dr. Dennis Durbin, a pediatric emergency physician involved in the study, told AP. "We're challenging the conventional wisdom that everyone assumed they were better."

[AnAnonymousDemocrat]

29. I'm plenty educated about the subject

You can't change the laws of physics. If a 5000 pound object hits a 3000 pound object, the 5000 pound object has a much greater chance of staying intact. A majority of the impact gets absorbed by the smaller object, not the larger one.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/iihs-and-nhtsa-agree-suvs-safer-than-cars/

http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/55333/cars/iihs_crash_tests_downgrade_subcompacts.html

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-08-19-small-cars_N.htm

http://www.safecarguide.com/exp/weight/idx.htm

Also, the statistics you cited are based on car crashed in the 1990s. Technology has advanced considerably since then. Nearly every SUV has stability control now, which makes it much less likely that the vehicle will roll over in a crash.

[mikelgb]

20. damn that intersection is just blocks away from my house

drive through it almost everyday

[Zavulon]

24. One side note that really bothers the shit out of me regarding Adenhart's death:

No matter which sports site I go to, the overwhelming lead story is the fucking MASTERS. This kid died after pitching a brilliant game last night, and we're having fucking GOLF shoved down our throats.

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Neecy]

25. agreed

You might want to glance at the Angel's SB Nation blog (the sports blog series started by Kos). The comments are from all over the country and are very moving.

The guy who runs it has a nice front page tribute:

But a tragedy means he will never be back at our house, at your house, across the homes of this sprawling, tangled neighborhood, this nation, the world even as this sport we love grows in our hearts and imagination. He had an open invitation from every fan in every home, and that invite was a manifestation of the love and hope and competitive drive in each of us. We are sports fans because it allows us to spend time with the absolute best in their prime.

http://www.halosheaven.com/

[Zavulon]

27. Thanks for this link.

And thanks for not flaming me. I'm still expecting some golf nut to do so.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

28. He was from Williamsport MD.

The WaPo is linking to an old article about him.

Archive Profile: Williamsport High School's Nick Adenhart