Suspect arrested in crash that killed two
CHP says driver flew off Highway 101 at “high rate of speed”
SANTA CLARA — A family matriarch and her daughter leaving a latenight church service at Our Lady of Peace died Thursday night when a suspected drunk-driver flew off Highway 101 and violently crashed into their vehicle on Great America Parkway, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office identified the victims as Carina Bontilao Kubow, 61, and her mother, Angela Vilbar Bontilao, 92, both of San Jose.
They were riding in the back seat of car driven by Bontilao’s granddaughter, and another family member was riding in the front passenger seat, relatives said.
The driver of the other car, 26-year-old Sunnyvale resident Vinod Kumar N Bonthu, was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter before he was released to Valley Medical Center, where he is being treated for major injuries, CHP Officer Ross Lee said.
According to an initial CHP investigation, the collision occurred about 11:30 p.m. when Bonthu exited northbound Highway 101 “at a high rate of speed” and lost control of his Mercedes-Benz C-230 east of the freeway.
The car went off the road, hit a raised curb, jumped the center median of Great America Parkway and went into the westbound lanes.
As soon as it crossed into oncoming traffic, the Mercedes crashed into a Subaru Forester driven by 33-year-old San Jose resident Jeanique Dioso, Bontilao’s granddaughter.
Dioso and the fourth Subaru passenger, Joy Valenzuela of San Jose — Kubow’s sister and Bontilao’s daughter — were taken to Regional Medical Center of San Jose with what authorities described as moderate injuries.
All of the women were wearing their seat belts.
Lee said the Subaru occupants had just attended Holy Thursday mass at Our Lady of Peace church, less than a quarter-mile from the crash site at 2800 Mission College Blvd.
Kubow is survived by her husband and two sons, and Bontilao is survived by nine children and several grandchildren.