Ernie and Elisa Santos, R.I.P.
I was supposed to meet Ernie Santos Saturday morning at Twin Peaks in McKinney.
I'm digging into an Observer cover story on metroplex motorcycle clubs/gangs and him, being a member of the Dirty Bastards, invited me to a sort of meet 'n greet with his crew. Seems one of their members was recently involved in a crash, and they were holding a bikini car/bike wash to raise him some cash.
Early Saturday I texted Ernie to double-check the time. But he didn't text me back. He'll never text me back.
Ernie Santos and his wife, Elisa, were killed around 2:15 a.m. Saturday morning in a motorcycle crash on Central Expressway.
According to friends who were riding with them and Richardson police, a white pickup - yep, a white truck - was driving erratically on 75 north. For no apparent reason the Mitsubishi Strada then stopped in the middle of the highway. A Lexus swerved to miss the truck, but Ernie and Elisa couldn't miss the Lexus.
Inexplicably - criminally - the white truck that commenced the chain-reaction of chaos then drove off. Elisa died at the scene. Ernie passed away from his injuries the next afternoon.
Read Richie's full Sportatorium blog at DallasObserver.com.
