Officials say Wednesday crash has led to another 33 pounds of cocaine.
By Bethany Clough
The Fresno Bee
Saturday, November 30, 2002
An accident involving a cocaine-stuffed car led to the discovery of an additional 33 pounds of the drug at the driver's home and the arrest of the Delano resident and her husband, Tulare County sheriff's deputies announced.
Sonia Gonzalez, 28, was driving on Road 144 in Delano through fog with 300-foot visibility Wednesday when she sideswiped an 18-wheeler about 8:30 a.m. The crash tore off the passenger side of the 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix, revealing cocaine hidden in the car's side panels and spilling some onto the road.
After collecting about 26 pounds of cocaine from the car, deputies served a search warrant at a home on Avenue 16 in Delano shared by Gonzalez and her husband, Martin Sepulveda. Sepulveda was not involved in the car accident.
A total of 591/2 pounds of cocaine valued at more than $500,000 was collected from the home and the car, deputies said.
Gonzalez and Sepulveda were arrested on suspicion of possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine for sale and child endangerment. Both are being held in the Tulare County Main Jail, awaiting arraignment.
The couple's 2-year-old son was a passenger in the car but was not properly secured in his seat, according to California Highway Patrol officers. The boy sustained major head injuries in the crash. He was taken to Delano Regional Medical Center and later airlifted to Children's Hospital Central California in Madera, where he remained in critical condition in the pediatric intensive care unit Friday.
Witnesses said Gonzalez, who was not injured in the crash, did not call police or ask for help after the accident. Instead, she hid packages from the car in a nearby vineyard and called friends to help her conceal the cocaine.
Three people thought to have been called by Gonzalez were detained by officers Wednesday. Authorities arrived 15 minutes after the crash.
If the boy dies, the couple could face murder charges, Lt. Richard Matthews said.
The two-door car with Arizona plates was specially outfitted to hide cocaine in its side panels. A series of switches that Matthews said could have cost $20,000 to install were wired into the car's electrical system and used to pop out side panels.
CHP officers said Gonzalez was going about 50 mph when she approached the intersection of Road 144 and Avenue 8. The driver of the big rig, Adonay Marquez, 35, of Delano, had stopped at a stop sign and rolled down his window to listen for cars because of the fog. Hearing none, he began to drive though the intersection when the passenger side of Gonzalez's car collided with the driver's side of the big rig.
Marquez was not injured.
Too bad, so sad, justice is blind. Next case.
The couple's 2-year-old son was a passenger in the car but was not properly secured in his seat
Typical of criminals everywhere. They don't just break the big laws. They stupidly break the small ones too.
Sorry.
I don't know you, who is this, don't come here, I'm hangin' up. Crank call! Crank call!
I agree with the earlier post - this should be given big time series treatment in the same papers that keep telling me about some 12 year old trapped in Mexico while mommy works three jobs someplace in el Norte. (Wondering, of course, why she tripped over the border by her lonesome in the first place.)
Nice...this kid suffered serious injuries and the mother is worried about herself....
They will definetely take this kid away from her right?
The dealer becomes worse off than the user. Chances are this woman isn't even an addict to cocaine, addiction to money can be worse.