Fatal Car Wreck Mars Reunion

A weekend reunion in Baja California for three men who grew up together in Santa Ana turned to tragedy after a car accident killed one and injured the others.

Before the weekend was over, one of them was forced to wait nearly a day and pay nearly $11,000 so he could get treatment at a U.S. hospital. The other was put in a jail cell, then hospitalized under police guard so he could be questioned.

On Sunday, Barry Patrick Walshe, 31, of Newport Beach, was in a Tijuana hospital under orders of authorities in Rosarito Beach, where the single-car accident occurred Saturday, said Tijuana police spokesman Raul Gonsalez.

Kevin Lewand, a 30-year-old San Francisco biologist seriously injured in the crash, also was named in the warrant but was allowed to cross the border Saturday when he posted bail of nearly $11,000.

“It was almost 22 hours before we could get him back into the States,” said Jeannie Lewand, Kevin’s mother.

Both men claim they are not to blame for the accident because Keith Takabayashi, who died in the crash, was driving the car. However, Mexican officials said they need to conduct an investigation.

The men’s detainment comes two months after the death of another American man whose family was forced to pay more than $7,000 to Mexican authorities so they would allow him to be transferred to an American hospital for treatment.

In a telephone interview from Notre Dame Hospital in Tijuana, Walshe said the three all went to Foothill High School in Santa Ana. He said it appeared he was the only one who was wearing a seat belt because his two companions were ejected when the vehicle rolled over.

Walshe said he didn’t know what caused the accident because he was asleep. But he recalls that Takabayashi, 31, of Santa Ana, commented that he was very tired.

“I just kind of woke up during the accident. I got out of the car and my friends were on the ground. One was dead,” Walshe said.

Walshe expressed dismay at the treatment he and his surviving friend received in the hours after the accident. “I already had one good friend die, and the other one was in really critical condition and it took us forever to get them out of here.”

Walshe said both men were taken to a first-aid station before Lewand was hospitalized and Walshe was jailed. “Not only didn’t they have an X-ray machine, they didn’t even have ice there,” Walshe said.

Even after Lewand’s bail had been paid, a police car temporarily prevented his ambulance from leaving for the U.S., Walshe said.

“It was just frustrating because [Lewand] was in really bad shape,” Walshe said.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.