Paladin

Issue date: 9/28/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Michael Brown A compact four-door car is engulfed in flames minutes after a fatal collision on Faculty Avenue and Carson Street around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday

Media Credit: Michael Brown Firefighter douses the car fire Wed, Oct. 4 near the LAC a motorcyclist was killed in a mid-day collision around 12:30 p.m.

Media Credit: Jeffery Hitchens Students view the collision scene from first level of ramp leading to pedestrian Overpass looking west on Carson Street.

Media Credit: Julio Salgado Map of fatal car crash happened on Faculty and Carson Avenue

An eerie silence fell over the LAC and smoke hung in the air Wednesday afternoon as police patrolled the scene of a fatal crash at the intersection of Carson Street and Faculty Avenue.

The crash occurred around 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 4, when a motorcycle heading west on Carson Street collided with a car turning left from Carson onto Faculty Avenue. The police said, Elisa Gigliotti, 49, of Long Beach, who was pulled from the burning car, was transferred Thursday, from Long Beach Memorial Medical Center to the Torrance Burn Center clinging to life. LBCC employees said she is a part-time Spanish teacher. The motorcyclist who died in the crash has been identified by police as 21-year-old Rajan Harold Boren, an LBCC student.

Long Beach Police Information Officer Jayson Wong said the accident appeared to be caused by a motorcycle race on Carson. "The motorcycle crashed into Gigliotti at a very high rate of speed. The motorcycle gas tank caught fire and it ignited Gigliotti's car." It is believed the car exploded after burning for 15 to 20 minutes. "Just to be safe, as our investigation is ongoing, I'm going to say that the motorcycle was going around 65 mph, but honestly, I think it was like 80 or 85."

Student Christina Graham said, "Our English teacher interrupted class upon hearing news of what happened. Our class ran out to the scene and saw Gigliotti sitting on the curb yelling hysterically."

Smoke could be seen across campus as far away as the D Building. Student eyewitnesses Dane Walker and Chanel Smith said Gigliotti was still on fire when she was pulled from the car. Students Andrew Nunnally and James Pena came rushing out of the nearby Mormon Institute with fire extinguishers and Physical Education Department Chair Wil Shaw was seen pulling the Gigliotti from her car. Athletics secretary Sharon Raven was also credited with helping rescue Gigliotti.

Walker said, "We were just trying to rush over there but Mr. Shaw was already there." Shaw, who was hesitant to discuss the crash, said, "Gigliotti was pretty coherent. Only a mom would do this. She said, 'I have to call my husband.' "

Gigliotti sat on the curb screaming for help with an unidentified man who also helped pull her from the blaze. The man was seen riding to the hospital where he, it was believed, received treatment for smoke inhalation. An unidentified police officer said, "Gigliotti's injuries were so severe it was a 'code 3', which means we had to close the streets in order to transport her to the hospital."

Nunnally said, "I never saw anyone check the body of the man on the motorcycle. I think it was just assumed that he died on impact. It makes you wonder if there was more you could have done."

Another eyewitness Delray Richardson said, "Once Boren hit the ground, I didn't see him move at all. A fireman approached his body and just shook his head. Then he put a sheet over the guy's face."

Over a dozen police officers were still on the scene at 2 p.m. and the discernable smell of burnt rubber and plastic still filled the air.

Visibly shaken students gathered around all edges of the roped off scene and spread across the pedestrian bridge that stretches across Carson. Multiple eyewitnesses, some still in tears, lingered for over an hour to talk to the police. Student Noel Anaya said, "I was in class in the P Building when I heard the crash. The woman in the green car was on fire. The motorcyclist was on the ground."

The body of Boren lay in the road covered in blue cloth until 4:05 p.m. A white tennis shoe belonging to Boren lay in the corner of the Institute of Religion parking lot, several car lengths away from his body. Towing vehicles arrived shortly after the coroner removed Boren's body.

Witnessing the scene was difficult, said Anaya, "It's kind of hard. It hurts a little." Student soccer player Allie Escobedo said, "I saw the car up in flames as I was coming from lunch and going to practice. The whole scene was surreal."

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