Teen suspected of drag racing crashes into seven cars

Dec. 15--Police say a Santa Fe teenager drag racing on an icy road Sunday night lost control of her Nissan 350Z, causing it to flip and smash into a row of parked rental cars. The woman's car was totaled, and seven rental cars were damaged after she struck one and started a chain reaction, according to a police report.

The woman, who was identified as 18-year-old Kayla Rael of Santa Fe, and her 17-year-old female passenger were not seriously injured and were treated by medical staff at the scene, said Deputy Chief John Schaerfl of the Santa Fe Police Department.

The accident occurred just before 10 p.m at Avis/Budget on Cerrillos Road, north of St. Michael's Drive. Roads throughout the city were icy following a snowstorm the night before.

Schaerfl said a police officer had spotted the Nissan and another car drag racing a few blocks south of where the accident happened.

Schaerfl said Rael was cited for racing in the streets and her insurance will pay for all the damages. He also said a male driver, suspected of being the other drag racer, stopped by the scene to check if everyone was OK. That driver was not cited, however, because no witnesses could confirm he was the second drag racer, Schaerfl said.

He added that the investigating officer will follow up with Rael and ask if she knows who the second driver was. If she's able to confirm the identity of the second racer, that driver also will be cited, the deputy chief said.

"She may or may not know him," he said.

When Rael lost control of her car, it spun and it flipped over into the Avis/Budget parking lot, Schaerfl said. In the process, the Nissan hit an electric pole and then crashed into a rental car, causing it to damage the six other vehicles.

The electric pole fell and hit the Avis/Budget building, police said.

Tomas Fernandez, the rental companies' independent agency operator, said that one of the rental sedans was a total loss. He said five other sedans and an SUV that were damaged are still in driving condition.

Fernandez said he hasn't figured out the total dollar amount of damages, but he suspected it's at least $50,000.

"If they wanted to take something out, they did a good job," Fernandez said. "But I'm just glad those kids are OK."

Contact Uriel Garcia at 986-3062 or ugarcia@sfnewmexican.com. Follow him on Twitter @ujohnnyg.

___

(c)2015 The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.)

Visit The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) at www.santafenewmexican.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.