The driver of the third vehicle, described by witnesses as a dark-colored Honda sedan with customized wheel rims and tinted windows, fled the scene but was later located. The second teenager allegedly involved in the race, 18-year-old Emmanuel Rico, has not been charged and is a potential witness in the case, according to a District Attorney’s Office spokesman.Witnesses had called in reports of two cars racing in Saticoy at speeds of up to 100 mph; others reported that the two vehicles were driving recklessly on Wells Road and then eastbound on Highway 126.Zermeno had been a Santa Paula resident for about four decades; his widow, Delfina, is a 3rd grade teacher in Oxnard. Three daughters and four grandchildren survived him.Zermeno had worked for the SPESD as a custodian for almost a dozen years; he was also a one-time disc jockey and had been a sales manager at a car dealership.At the time of his death, Zermeno was described as very caring person with an upbeat positive attitude.
Zermeno: SP teen charged in illegal Hwy 126 fatal street race
May 07, 2003
Santa Paula News
Almost six months after a high-speed illegal “street race” took the life of a Santa Paula man, a city teenager has been charged in the Dec. 10th Highway 126 crash.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesAlmost six months after a high-speed illegal “street race” took the life of a Santa Paula man, a city teenager has been charged in the Dec. 10th Highway 126 crash.Ventura County prosecutors charged Genaro Mejia, now 19, whose car allegedly rear-ended the pickup truck driven by Jose Zermeno, 65, during a high-speed race, with felony vehicular manslaughter.Zermeno was on his way home from a Ventura church Christmas program featuring his grandchild, when one of two racers hit his vehicle and forced it off Highway 126 near Briggs Road, where other family members following him came upon the crash scene. Zermeno, whose red pickup struck a tree off the highway shoulder, was declared dead at the scene.Mejia was arrested April 29th and posted $50,000 bail; he is set for arraignment May 28th on charges of vehicular manslaughter, reckless causing of injury and engaging in an illegal speed contest. If convicted the maximum sentence is six years in prison, the minimum is probation.Driving a 1999 black Chevy Malibu, Mejia and his 16-year-old passenger, Steven Sanchez, also of Santa Paula, received minor injuries when Mejia’s car slammed into the center divider guardrail after allegedly hitting the rear of Zermeno’s pick-up.
