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| Saturday, Apr 8 2006 11:10 PM
Last Updated: Saturday, Apr 8 2006 11:14 PM
It was a mother's greatest fear: Coming upon an accident scene to find her child dead.
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"It just couldn't be my baby," Ana Robledo thought Friday night.
But she saw the car: her daughter's Geo Prism, which moments earlier had been hit by a fleeing suspect and a police car during a high-speed chase in east Bakersfield.
The pursuit through a residential area that led to the death of an innocent bystander in another car was within departmental policy and won't be investigated, a Bakersfield police spokesman said Saturday.
Robledo's 17-year-old daughter, Lisa A. Rosas, a senior at Foothill High School, was killed Friday when a man driving a stolen Chevrolet Suburban crashed into her Geo Prism head-on.
"I just don't understand why they didn't let him go," she said, referring to the man in the stolen Suburban, which was equipped with a satellite tracking system. "I just want to know the truth about what happened, because there are so many stories."
"I hated everything," Robledo said, recalling when she first realized her daughter was in the accident and was killed. "I even hated God for a second for taking my baby."
Bakersfield Police officers had been chasing the vehicle north on Fairfax Road at speeds in excess of 85 mph.
Rosas' 2-year-old niece, Katrina Martinez, was also in the Prism. The toddler remained in serious condition Saturday evening at Children's Hospital Central California in Madera, hospital spokeswoman Micheline Golden said.
Jon Justin, 27, a San Luis Obispo resident, was visiting family in east Bakersfield when the pursuit suddenly loomed in his rearview mirror.
He heard sirens and pulled over. The Suburban appeared first, followed by two squad cars barreling north on Fairfax.
"They were going balls-out to catch this guy," Justin said of the chase.
From Justin's point of view, the Suburban seemed to be trying to make a left turn onto Lexington Avenue.
"He kind of veered off," he said. "I couldn't tell if he was trying to make that turn."
That's when the driver, 24-year-old Thomas Holt of Bakersfield, struck the Prism, sending it up in the air.
One of the police cars then hit the Prism with tremendous force, Justin said.
"When that squad car hit, it kind of hit 'em in a bad place," Justin said. "From my angle, it was: 'Oh my gosh. Whoever's in that car -- oh my gosh.'"
Justin said he wondered "what the heck they were doing" chasing the Suburban through a residential area at high speeds.
Bakersfield Police Detective Ryan Paslay said the situation "absolutely" met the department's requirement for a chase.
There was a felon in the car, for one thing. Because Holt was in a stolen car, he automatically met that criterion.
The stolen car was driven in the presence of an officer, meaning a crime was committed in view of the law, another category for a chase.
Unlike officer-involved shootings, he said, pursuits don't receive a departmental investigation.
Four officers involved in the chase: Chris Ward and Justin Lewis -- who were in the K-9 car that hit Rosas -- and Steve Wilson and Jesse Gracia, were not injured and were back at work, Paslay said.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating the crash. It routinely investigates accidents on certain county roadways.
"They will not investigate our policies" or procedures in the pursuit, Paslay said.
Holt, the driver, allegedly stole the Suburban from the 34th Street Car Wash after the owner had apparently stepped away from the vehicle while the keys were inside, Paslay said.
After reporting the vehicle stolen -- and notifying law enforcement the Suburban had two rifles and a handgun inside -- the owner remembered the Suburban was outfitted with an OnStar tracking system.
Calls from OnStar went to police and the highway patrol, Paslay said, notifying them the Suburban was near Fairfax and Muller Road.
That's where the short-lived chase began. It lasted less than 90 seconds, Paslay said.
Asked why the officers pursued Holt given that OnStar was tracking the SUV, rather than wait for him to stop and then surround the vehicle, Paslay said that when OnStar contacted the department, the car had stopped. He said the officers were en route to do that when Holt took off in the SUV without warning.
"It was moving before we could get to it," Paslay said.
Holt was in the downtown jail Saturday, apparently without bail. He is being held on suspicion of seven felonies and four misdemeanors, including gross vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence, being a gang member, drug possession and others. His next court date is scheduled for Tuesday. Holt has a long string of prior convictions, online court records show, ranging from car theft, robbery and possession of a switchblade.
Rosas' friends described her as a fun-loving, sociable girl who always made them laugh.
"No matter what -- she was always happy," said Cecilia Mojica, 17, as she wiped tears while she and other friends placed a bouquet at the accident site.
Mojica, Yesenia Araujo, Desiree Provencio, Violeta Fonseca and Veronica Lara visited the site Saturday evening.
Susan Romo, who lives at the house at 801 Fairfax, raked leaves away from the base of the tree so the girls had a place to put the flowers.
Rosas' family will set up a bank account this week for donations to help with funeral expenses. For more information, call Eva Zepeda at 319-6118.
Staff writer Erin Waldner contributed to this story.