A first-hand look at tragedy
Consequences of drunken driving on display at Tokay High School presentation
Students gathered in front of Tokay High School on Thursday morning for Every 15 Minutes, a program educating high schools about the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol that principal’s secretary Tammy Foley has helped coordinate at Tokay since 1999.
“Before that, kids were dying from drinking and driving. Knock on wood, we haven’t lost a kid to drinking and driving since ‘99. Kids are getting the message, hopefully not to drink, but definitely not to drive,” Foley said.
First responders from the Lodi police and fire departments, American Medical Response, California Highway Patrol extracted students from totaled cars while a Grim Reaper walked among the wreckage and crushed, empty beer cans.
Chris Stevens, a former deputy with the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office who has spoken at Every 15 Minutes events since 2000, addressed the students while senior Jaspreet Galvan, 18, was loaded into an ambulance as a recording of a young woman crying played over speakers.
“Can you imagine being that young lady inside the van? Hurt, confused, dazed, scared beyond belief ?” Stevens said.
Stevens explained the three investigations that take place at a drunken driving collision: How the collision occurred, whether someone broke the law and the coroner’s investigation of any deaths that may have resulted from the collision.
Detective Michael Hitchcock of the Lodi Police Department began by asking senior Jasmine Villanueva, 18, who played the driver of one of the vehicles, if anything was wrong with her car, if she was sick or injured and if she had been drinking after learning that she had been driving from one party to another.
“I had a couple of beers, I took some shots,” Villanueva said.
Hitchcock then administered a field sobriety test, watching as Villanueva had difficulty with the heel-toe walk and standing on one foot while counting. As Villanueva was younger than 21, she was also required to submit to a breathalyzer test before Hitchcock placed her in handcuffs.
“Alright, Jasmine, you are being placed under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol. Come with me,” Hitchcock said.
Firefighters then extracted 18-year-old Hudson Cronk, a senior at Tokay playing the role of the deceased, from a vehicle before placing him on a board and covering him with a crash blanket. Stevens asked if any of Cronk’s friends could speak to his character, learning that the senior was friendly with everybody, cared about people and planned to attend college next year.
“He’s not going to college anymore. Take a look at the firemen, notice how they take great care with him. What you’re looking at is a bunch of men: Dads, uncles, brothers, maybe even grandfathers. When we pull you out of cars, it eats us up inside. When we go to the untimely death of a high-school student, we take great care of your remains as if you were still alive,” Stevens said.
A deputy coroner then examined Cronk, checking for skull fractures, rigor mortis and a collapsed chest before placing him in a body bag and loading him into a hearse. As the hearse drove off, the Grim Reaper led a line of students with their faces painted like skulls to represent the four people who die from drunken driving collisions each hour, Stevens explained.
While Stevens gave his closing address, Cronk’s cellphone began ringing, its sound amplified by the speakers. Stevens retrieved the phone from the car, and held it up.
“Is this one of your buddies trying to get ahold of you? Is it your mom, wondering what happened to you? Is it your boyfriend or girlfriend, wondering why you’re not where you’re supposed to be? No one’s answering this phone. Enjoy your lunch, Tokay,” Stevens said.
Cronk’s grandmothers, Denise Miller and Patti Drake were visibly shaken by the program as was his younger brother, Baci Cronk, an eighth-grader at Morada Middle School who will attend Tokay next year.
“We kept telling ourselves that it wasn’t real. Nobody should have to go through this,” Drake said.
“It’s every family’s worst nightmare,” Baci said, adding it was hard seeing his brother like that.
“I couldn’t believe how realistic it was, that’s what got me. It actually gets you in the gut because of the realism. I think it’s a wonderful program. I think it’s really going to teach the kids, even if they don’t act like it,” Miller said.