(no subject)
Manatee teen dies in crash
Erick Elfering, a junior at Center Academy, would 'stand up for anybody'
AIMEE JUAREZ
Herald Staff Writer
BRADENTON - Sucy and Gerry Elfering were talking about their son Erick just before a police officer knocked on their front door early Wednesday morning.
The couple thought the 17-year-old had gotten into some kind of trouble. They weren't ready for the news they were about to receive at 7 a.m.
"When they sat me down, I knew it was something serious," Gerry Elfering said Wednesday afternoon. "After he told me, I just lost it."
The officer told the couple their son died in a crash along Manatee Avenue West a half-hour earlier when a van rear-ended the white 1989 Nissan pickup Erick had been riding in with friends Kyle Vickers and Tim Dionian, both 18.
An avid fisherman and a junior at Center Academy High School, Erick Elfering had been seated in the bed of the truck. The teens had slowed to make a right turn into the Shell gas station at 35th Street West to buy soft drinks. The driver of the 2004 Chevrolet van, Edgar Monzon, 36, failed to slow down, swerved and struck the pickup, police said. The impact threw Erick against the van's windshield and onto the pavement about 50 feet away, where he died.
Erick's father picked up his other son, Kyle, at Manatee High School. The police officer advised the family not to go to the crash scene, but Gerry Elfering felt he had to go. ((we love you kyle!!))
"I didn't want to see his body lying there," he said. "But I had to see what the cars looked like."
Gerry Elfering spoke with Vickers and Dionian at the scene; neither was hurt in the accident.
Police blocked off the eastbound lanes of Manatee Avenue for more than three hours. As firefighters hosed off the blood-stained street, Bradenton Police Officer Jason Nuttal, who witnessed the crash on his way to work, arrested Monzon, who was sitting on a nearby bus bench.
Monzon was booked at the Manatee County jail, where he is being held without bond on charges of driving with a suspended license and causing death or serious injury with a vehicle while driving on a suspended license, which is a third-degree felony according to state statutes.
The van Monzon was driving belongs to Carpenter Contractors of America. He was traveling at the posted 40-mph speed limit when the crash occurred, Bradenton Police traffic unit supervisor Sgt. Tyler Mathews said. Neither Monzon nor van passenger Marin Monzon, 25, were injured.
Carpenter Contractors of America risk manager Jim Leonard told The Herald that Edgar Monzon has worked as a foreman with the company for several years. Leonard described Monzon as a family man with a good record. At last check, Monzon's driver's license was active, Leonard said.
Leonard questioned why the teenager was riding in the bed of the truck. Law enforcement officials said there is no law under state statutes prohibiting a person from riding in the bed of a pickup.
This term, legislators are debating a bill in the Senate to prohibit minors from riding in the bed of pickup trucks and flatbed trucks unless the vehicles have been modified to include secure seating and safety restraints.
Erick's family members didn't consider the what-ifs Wednesday afternoon. Still shocked at the suddenness of his death, family members said they were not angry.
"You wonder why these things happen," Erick's stepmother Sucy Elfering said, holding back tears. "It's tough for any parent to lose a kid, but I feel at rest knowing he didn't know what happened."
Erick had his future planned out. He loved mechanics and planned to enroll at Manatee Technical Institute to study the subject.
The outgoing teenager was also popular at school.
Center Academy officials told Erick's classmates about his death Wednesday morning. Grief counselors arrived at the school hours after the crash to talk with students, school officials said.
Erick's lineage was Dutch, but the Bradenton-born teenager was a Southern boy at heart, family members said at the Elferings' home Wednesday afternoon. And he wasn't afraid to speak his mind.
"He was a fighting Dutchman," Gerry Elfering said. "He'd stand up for anybody."
The family will hold a memorial service for Erick at the United Methodist Church in downtown Bradenton on Saturday morning. His remains will be cremated.
"I wish I could wrap my arms around him again," Gerry Elfering said. "He had too much life in him to leave this early."
R.I.P Eric Elfering 4;;20;;05
Erick Elfering, a junior at Center Academy, would 'stand up for anybody'
AIMEE JUAREZ
Herald Staff Writer
BRADENTON - Sucy and Gerry Elfering were talking about their son Erick just before a police officer knocked on their front door early Wednesday morning.
The couple thought the 17-year-old had gotten into some kind of trouble. They weren't ready for the news they were about to receive at 7 a.m.
"When they sat me down, I knew it was something serious," Gerry Elfering said Wednesday afternoon. "After he told me, I just lost it."
The officer told the couple their son died in a crash along Manatee Avenue West a half-hour earlier when a van rear-ended the white 1989 Nissan pickup Erick had been riding in with friends Kyle Vickers and Tim Dionian, both 18.
An avid fisherman and a junior at Center Academy High School, Erick Elfering had been seated in the bed of the truck. The teens had slowed to make a right turn into the Shell gas station at 35th Street West to buy soft drinks. The driver of the 2004 Chevrolet van, Edgar Monzon, 36, failed to slow down, swerved and struck the pickup, police said. The impact threw Erick against the van's windshield and onto the pavement about 50 feet away, where he died.
Erick's father picked up his other son, Kyle, at Manatee High School. The police officer advised the family not to go to the crash scene, but Gerry Elfering felt he had to go. ((we love you kyle!!))
"I didn't want to see his body lying there," he said. "But I had to see what the cars looked like."
Gerry Elfering spoke with Vickers and Dionian at the scene; neither was hurt in the accident.
Police blocked off the eastbound lanes of Manatee Avenue for more than three hours. As firefighters hosed off the blood-stained street, Bradenton Police Officer Jason Nuttal, who witnessed the crash on his way to work, arrested Monzon, who was sitting on a nearby bus bench.
Monzon was booked at the Manatee County jail, where he is being held without bond on charges of driving with a suspended license and causing death or serious injury with a vehicle while driving on a suspended license, which is a third-degree felony according to state statutes.
The van Monzon was driving belongs to Carpenter Contractors of America. He was traveling at the posted 40-mph speed limit when the crash occurred, Bradenton Police traffic unit supervisor Sgt. Tyler Mathews said. Neither Monzon nor van passenger Marin Monzon, 25, were injured.
Carpenter Contractors of America risk manager Jim Leonard told The Herald that Edgar Monzon has worked as a foreman with the company for several years. Leonard described Monzon as a family man with a good record. At last check, Monzon's driver's license was active, Leonard said.
Leonard questioned why the teenager was riding in the bed of the truck. Law enforcement officials said there is no law under state statutes prohibiting a person from riding in the bed of a pickup.
This term, legislators are debating a bill in the Senate to prohibit minors from riding in the bed of pickup trucks and flatbed trucks unless the vehicles have been modified to include secure seating and safety restraints.
Erick's family members didn't consider the what-ifs Wednesday afternoon. Still shocked at the suddenness of his death, family members said they were not angry.
"You wonder why these things happen," Erick's stepmother Sucy Elfering said, holding back tears. "It's tough for any parent to lose a kid, but I feel at rest knowing he didn't know what happened."
Erick had his future planned out. He loved mechanics and planned to enroll at Manatee Technical Institute to study the subject.
The outgoing teenager was also popular at school.
Center Academy officials told Erick's classmates about his death Wednesday morning. Grief counselors arrived at the school hours after the crash to talk with students, school officials said.
Erick's lineage was Dutch, but the Bradenton-born teenager was a Southern boy at heart, family members said at the Elferings' home Wednesday afternoon. And he wasn't afraid to speak his mind.
"He was a fighting Dutchman," Gerry Elfering said. "He'd stand up for anybody."
The family will hold a memorial service for Erick at the United Methodist Church in downtown Bradenton on Saturday morning. His remains will be cremated.
"I wish I could wrap my arms around him again," Gerry Elfering said. "He had too much life in him to leave this early."
R.I.P Eric Elfering 4;;20;;05