Friends, Family Of Man Killed By Teenage Street Racers Say Probation Is Not Enough
SAN MARINO (CBSLA) — Friends and family of a man killed while jogging in San Marino said probation was not enough for two 17-year-old boys who killed a man and dog after crashing into each other during a street race.
The tragic crash happened last July when 49-year-old Gabriel Crispo and his girlfriend, Martha, were jogging down the median on Huntington Avenue with their 5-year-old dog. Two 17-year-old boys were street racing when they crashed and flew into the center median, killing Crispo and the dog.
"You know, we know they're juveniles," Christy Neville, Crispo's friend, said. "They're not gonna be going to jail."
But Crispo's friends and family had been holding onto hope that the two boys would face severe consequences for their life-ending actions.
"To me, the punishment doesn't fit the crime," Neville said.
The boys were ultimately sentenced to probation — one for 30 days and the other for 60 days — allowed to return home and attend work service and hospital morgue programs.
"You can't teach kids that it's OK to go out and street race and if you kill someone all you're gonna get is community service or probation," Neville said.
Crispo was a longtime teacher at Pasadena City College and Don Bosco Tech.
He was adored by his friends and cherished by his girlfriend of 15 years who said what happened should serve as a lesson to teenagers that street racing is not a game, and that a car can be a lethal weapon.
But, she said, probation alone does not make that point.
"I mean, how is that going to teach our kids of the future not to street race," Neville said.
The boys also have to write apology letters to Crispo's family, and Neville said she hopes they dig deep.
"They're still going to school and living their life," she said. "And Martha's without the love of her life, and she lost her dog."