Motorcycle Club Makes Plea With Driver in Deadly Pile-up

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Motorcycle Club Makes Plea With Driver in Deadly Pile-up
5 died, 6 were injured in a crash near Ocotillo

Members of a local motorcycle club are making a plea to a mystery driver in connection with a crash Saturday afternoon that killed five people and injured six others.
The members of the Saddle Tramps motorcycle club of Lakeside held painfully somber prayers outside the San Diego Harley-Davidson Store in Kearny Mesa on Sunday. It came one day after four members died on Highway 98 just west of El Centro when they were hit head-on by a Dodge Avenger.
The victims have been identified as Lance and Amy Health of Alpine, Bill Miller of Ramona and Tonya Trayer of El Cajon. The club had been celebrating its 10th Anniversary with a ride to Yuma, Ariz.
Club president Carl Smith said the crash sent one the bikes, "probably 10 foot in the air totally engulfed in flames."

The collision also killed a passenger inside the Avenger. But witnesses say that sedan is also a victim of the crash. They say the true culprit was a gold Honda Civic that tried to get around them on the Eastbound lanes by driving into on-coming traffic. The Dodge was going in the opposite direction and lost control as its driver tried to avoid the Honda, plowing into the pack that was 12 choppers deep.

"An idiot, trying to pass 12 bikes at a time. I mean we were riding the speed limit," the Saddle Tramps Vice President said about the driver of the Honda.
"We know what car you were driving. We know you were wearing a baseball cap. Some of them even saw your face," said the victims' friend Monica Smith.
The Honda escaped the wreck and simply drove away, according to the CHP.
Club members say the driver left more than five lifeless bodies on the highway.
"You've left some children without their parents and their mother and you wouldn't want that happening to you. Okay? Whatever your penalty is be a man."
Carl Smith is asking the driver to turn himself in and be responsible.
The driver of the Avenger, 36-year old Carlos Bobadilla, has been booked on suspicion of drunk driving. But the members of the Saddle Tramps says he's not to blame for the crash. They say the wreck would have been impossible to avoid even if he wasn't drinking.
It is unclear if the driver's alleged alcohol consumption contributed to the collision, Officer DeeAnn Goudie said, but he was arrested on a misdemeanor and is not being held responsible for the deaths based on evidence collected so far.

The crash happened on Saturday around 1 p.m. on State Route 98 near Ocotillo, a few miles north of the Mexico border and 80 miles east of San Diego.

Source: Motorcycle Club Makes Plea With Driver in Deadly Pile-up | NBC San Diego