The Highway Patrol said a San Simeon teenager was killed in a single car crash on Hwy 1 in Cambria on Sept. 14.
According to a CHP accident report, on Saturday, Sept. 14, sometime after 10 p.m., the 16-year-old driver left his home in San Simeon in his father’s pickup truck, destination unknown. After his departure, the report said, the family went in search of him and the truck but couldn’t find them. The CHP said he might have taken the truck without permission. The next morning, the mystery was solved in tragic fashion.
At about 6:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 15, calls came in to dispatch of a possible vehicle over the side of the Hwy 1 north of Burton Drive.
When emergency crews arrived, the boy’s family, who had located the truck and driver, were on scene. When the Ford left the roadway, the report said, it struck several trees, “which caused significant damage to the vehicle and fatal injuries to the driver.”
The truck couldn’t be seen from the roadway as it had careened down a 100-foot embankment before coming to rest.
The driver was identified as Eric Aguilar, 16 of San Simeon.
The report said there were no witnesses to the crash, nor had anyone reported it to 9-1-1 before the calls the next morning, so their conclusions cannot be verified entirely. However, “It appears that speed was the main cause of the crash,” the report said, “and it is unknown at this point whether alcohol, drugs or distracted driving contributed to the crash.” The final report is pending investigation.
Road conditions at the time were believed to be dry with some light fog in the area.
Any witnesses to the crash are asked to contact the Templeton CHP Office at 805-400-6720 or if it’s outside normal business hours, call dispatch at 805-593-3333.
