C5Rme

Crazy stuff... anyone know who this unfortunate guy is?

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/va...88012f195.html



VALLEY CENTER ---- A Valley Center man suffered critical injuries when he lost control of his Corvette in a road race and crashed into fencing and a tree Tuesday, authorities said.

California Highway Patrol officers responded at 2:20 p.m. to a report of a wreck on Valley Center Road between Lilac and Canyon roads, Office Jim Bettencourt said.

Witnessess said a silver 2008 Corvette was racing a tan or dark-colored pickup when the Corvette lost control and left the road, Bettencourt said. The Corvette crashed into fencing and then into a tree along the side of the road.

The driver, a 51-year-old man, suffered life-threatening injuries, Bettencourt said. He was taken to Palomar Medical Center for treatment.

The two men in the pickup got out and were checking on the driver of the Corvette when firefighters arrived, Bettencourt said. They got back into the pickup and fled.

Officers were looking for the men, and they asked anyone with information about them or the wreck to call officers at 760-757-1675.

Call staff writer Morgan Cook at 760-739-6675.

Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/va...#ixzz1lxAszkl7

NORTY

We've seen some pretty hard collisions in Corvettes, with the driver having mild or no injuries. This one must have really had a lot of energy to have the driver as "extremely critical." Hope he recovers.

I know the news story listed it as "street racing", but they don't let accuracy get in the way of sensationalism. Do we know if the driver had a medical issue?

Bakerking31

hmmm ... thats basically a straight stretch of road, I wonder what actually happened.

C5Rme

I guess it happened at the end of that stretch as the road starts to turn... as your headed west.

Varmit

Think the guys first name was Dean driving a silver C6Z, some info was that is could have been a medical condition. Far be if from the media to let the truth get in the way of sensationalism!!!!

mike100

I was told by somebody who drove by the mess that the fencing intruded into the car and the hit to the tree was significant. They may never find out what happened as I heard things did not look good with a non responsive driver.

Olitho

In a strange turn of circumstance it turns out I know this driver and I have had business interaction with him on occassion over the past 8 years.

His name is Dean Gittleson. I just got a letter forwarded to me from his wife. I won't post that for reasons of privacy and good etiquette, but I will repost a comment posted on the news post by the local paper that says much of the same.

Here is the story link and comment:
I am writing this comment from Dean Gittleson's home, on his wife's computer. While the report above has some truth to it, it is not as it seems. Dean Gittleson had an aneurysm that ruptured in the left side of his neck while he was driving. I realize that a news story titled "Driver Dies after Aneurysm" is not as exciting to most people as "Racing" is but that is what happened. Since this paper and several others began following this story last Tuesday it has always been about the "Racing" and the "Speeding". The Hollywood stuff. Dean was kept alive via Life Support and pronounced brain dead on Saturday, February 11th. The following evening, Dean Gittleson was brought into surgery around 5:30 pm at Palomar Medical Center. Fifteen of his closest friends cheered with tears as Dean's wife Melanie and their two kids walked pro...udly behind the donor team as they wheeled a wonderful husband, a great father and an incredible man into the operating room.
So Kristina Davis, we thank you for mentioning Dean's name and the fact that witnesses told investigators he "MAY have been racing a pickup truck" but had you spent the last week at Dean's bedside like his wife did, or had you gone to visit him every single day like many of his friends did, or had you simply phoned the Hospital and gotten the truth to the story like seemingly so few reporters do, then maybe you would be writing a story about a hero from Valley Center that was in a tragic car accident after an aneurysm in his neck ruptured and he was able to donate all of his organs including his huge heart to save lives of seven people. To me that is an absolutely remarkable story that this world could use.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/...-racing-crash/


God Speed Dean.




Oli

Joe aka - KODAK

The media in this country is very sad in the way they write stories - it's all about $$$ not the truth - I would hope that the paper would have written a rebuttal - butt - I don’t think they have the integrity!

The Corvette community has lost another friend and I’m sure we all wish the family their best in this sad time!

Willie'sVette

A very sad story....made worse (especially for the family) by the damn press.

2 words that don't go together > media & integrity.

Let's see if any of the press have the decency to set this right w/o hiding it on pg. 29.

bud miller

yea- i passed the accident about 10 min after, sad to see, especially the dangerous"decorative fence" they put along the walking path in town...
bud

C6topless

When I first read the article detailing what "happened" it did not pass the "sniff test"... namely crashing on a straight portion and racing a pickup truck...


what is sad is I am willing to bet there will be no correction as the media has no intergity these days.

Tarl

Actually there was a correction in the Union Tribune dated 02-17-12 that corrected it.

The headline read, "Police say driver who died wasn't racing."

They said he had a medical emergency that lead to the crash and his death was determined to be a brain aneurysm.

Thoughts and prayers go out to all the family and friends.

boraxman

Sad/

Dennis Wilson

sabastian458

couldnt you sue the newspapers for liable? I mean they tarnished the good man's name without any actual evidence.