Friends, family reflect on devastating wreck at viewing

Ricardo Bravo doesn’t feel bitterness toward the teen accused of causing his stepson’s death.

“These are two young lives we’re talking about,” Bravo said. “But I do feel he should man up and be held accountable for it.”

Police said Allan Tiscareño, 18, had stopped at a red light on his motorcycle Tuesday afternoon when Rogelio Diaz, 17, smashed into him from behind with a pickup truck. The impact left Tiscareño with severe blunt-force head trauma, apparently causing his death, a police affidavit states.

Instead of stopping to help Tiscareño, Diaz sped away from the scene, perhaps not realizing the impact had sent the victim flying into the bed of his pickup, said Sgt. Jody Tittle, a spokesman with the Mission Police Department.

“I know it was an accident,” Bravo said. “But he needs to pay for my son’s death.”

A preliminary crash report states Diaz was eastbound on Griffin Parkway in a Chevrolet Silverado when he struck Tiscareño at the street’s intersection with Gold Avenue. After the initial crash, Diaz continued driving in that direction and apparently attempted to cross Holland Avenue but struck three other vehicles instead.

Investigators found a trail of blood that ran from the Silverado’s front hood area, over the vehicle’s cab and into the bed of the truck, where Tiscareño’s body landed.

The two teens and four others were rushed to area hospitals. Tiscareño died minutes after arriving at McAllen Medical Center, the police report states. Diaz and the others were treated for minor injuries and released shortly after the wrecks. Neither of the teens appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.

Bravo has a hard time fathoming why Diaz sped away from the scene of the first crash.

“Why did he keep going?” the father said during a phone interview Wednesday evening. “By fleeing he only hurt more people.”

The next day, Diaz was charged with criminally negligent homicide and accident involving injury. He could face up to 10 years in prison and a possible fine of up to $10,000 if he is found guilty of the more serious charge.

View the Mission police crash report associated with this story.

Mission Municipal Judge Jonathan Wehrmeister set his bond at $25,000. The teen’s private attorney — Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa — requested a low bond, insisting Diaz was not a flight risk.

“He’s never been in trouble,” Hinojosa said during the teen’s arraignment. “He has been cooperative with law enforcement.”

Hinojosa, a Democratic state senator who typically handles civil litigation in his private law practice, said he has represented Diaz’s family in civil matters before.

The attorney met with the teen just minutes before the arraignment Wednesday afternoon and advised him to provide police a written statement.

According to Hinojosa, Diaz was wiping sweat from his face and did not see Tiscareño’s red Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle.

Diaz told investigators he blacked out just after striking Tiscareño and did not drive away from the wreck intentionally.

Hinojosa said his client passed out from the heat — his truck’s air conditioning system was not working and the driver’s side window was jammed shut.

“It can happen,” Hinojosa said. “The evidence doesn’t show he was trying to flee.”

Diaz’s grandfather and aunt, who sat bleary-eyed at the teen’s arraignment, refused an interview with The Monitor.

“It’s an injustice,” Tiscareño’s mother, Maria Bravo, said in Spanish at her son’s wake Thursday afternoon. “The bond amount is nothing compared to my son’s life.”

Dozens of teens gathered at the wake to remember the young man they called “Cheeze” at Mission High School — Tiscareño had earned the nickname in elementary school after a girl approached him during lunch and pointed out that he ate lots of cheeseburgers.

Visit Allan Tiscareño's MySpace profile.

Tiscareño and Diaz both played for the Mission High football team, though Tiscareño was more into wrestling. Friends and family said the teens knew each other, though they rarely interacted.

“He was just an acquaintance,” Ricardo Bravo said of Diaz’s relationship to hi s son.

Some of the teens had gathered at Tiscareño’s home Wednesday night and walked to the scene of the crash with lighted candles in hand. Shattered glass and debris still lay on the road where the impact occurred.

Tiscareño lived only a few blocks from Diaz’s house and three blocks from the crash site.

Maria Bravo said her son was on his way to Cornerstone Fitness Center when the impact occurred.

“I told him not to go because it was too hot,” she said in Spanish. “But he always wanted to work out. He wanted to be strong.”

Although he didn’t have a motorcycle license, Tiscareño rode his red Kawasaki Ninja to the gym and to the city’s H.E.B. Plus! store, where he worked through high school.

Tiscareño had graduated in May and was planning to attend classes at the University of Texas-Pan American. His parents said the teen wanted to eventually transfer to Sam Houston State University in Huntsville and pursue a career in law enforcement.

“Allan was always smiling,” his wrestling coach Jeff Moubray said with a sad chuckle. “His heart and desire far outweighed his athletic ability.”

Moubray recalled that the teen became nervous before each wrestling match. He won three medals at district meets and placed fifth at regionals his senior year.

“He could have been wrestling someone with two broken arms and legs,” Moubray said. “But he’d always hold his stomach and say: ‘Coach, I’m nervous.’”

A slide show projected above Tiscareño’s open casket displayed photos of the tan, chubby-faced teen at football and wrestling practice while his friends swapped Cheeze stories.

“He was really funny and nice,” Aileen Madrid said as she cried softly by her friend’s side, recalling the day she met Tiscareño in art class.

The girls were among a group wearing maroon Mission Lady Eagles T-shirts at the wake.

“He was always at the gym,” Madrid’s friend Esmer Perez said. “He was so strong.”

Jerry Davis, 19, met Tiscareño at a wrestling match when Davis was a sophomore at McAllen Memorial High School. Tiscareño was a freshman.

They faced each other at decisive district championship matches in three consecutive years, Davis recalled. The first year, Tiscareño won. But Davis beat him the next two times.

“He was a true champion,” Davis said.

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Ana Ley covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4428.