3 dead in St. Helena crash | Napa Valley Register

3 dead in St. Helena crash

Three people died early Friday morning in a single vehicle crash in St. Helena. Tony Leonardini submitted photo | Buy photos

Friday, April 17, 2009

Comment

By KERANA TODOROV
Register Staff Writer

Traffic coverage

November 21st, 2009

Storm causes several vehicle accidents

November 19th, 2009

Woman hurt in collision north of Calistoga

November 18th, 2009

American Canyon man killed in car crash

Collision leads to DUI arrest

November 14th, 2009

Browns Valley might get traffic roundabout

St. Helena coverage

October 31st, 2009

Upvalley recall election set

October 26th, 2009

$8 million donation to St. Helena Hospital

October 21st, 2009

St. Helena schools may ask to extend bond

October 5th, 2009

Coolest thing on four wheels

October 4th, 2009

St. Helena may scrap business caps

Kerana Todorov articles

November 19th, 2009

Human signs banned in American Canyon

November 13th, 2009

Napa pilot supplies ocean trek

November 12th, 2009

American Canyon officials balk at budget questionnaire, want more data

November 7th, 2009

Devlin extension gets rolling

Boxer's staff answers questions in American Canyon

11 a.m.Three men died early this morning in a high-speed single vehicle crash in St. Helena.

The men were in a 1999 silver BMW 540i eastbound in the 200 block of Pratt Avenue around 1 a.m. when the car crashed into a tree near the Silverado Trail, St. Helena Police Cpl. Ramon Jovel said Friday.

The driver, John Gomes Melo, 45, of Petaluma, the front-seat passenger, Jacob Aron Shapiro, 26, of Tahoe City and the rear-seat passenger, Adam Gregory Rains, 32, of West Sacramento, were pronounced dead at 1:18 a.m., Sheriff’s Capt. John Robertson said.

It is unclear how fast the car was traveling or whether alcohol was a factor in the collision. The crash remains under investigation, Jovel said.

A security officer for the Culinary Institute of America who making his rounds of properties the CIA owns in the area came across the crash and called for help, Jovel said.

Pratt Avenue was closed until 3 a.m.

16 comment(s)

UncleStuy wrote on Apr 17, 2009 12:05 PM:

" How did they determine the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed ? Was the car an accordian against the tree ? First sentence states "Three men died early this morning in a high-speed single vehicle crash in St. Helena" Then further down the article it states "It is unclear how fast the car was traveling ". It appears there was no witness to the accident and the security guard did hear the sound of the crash. Any how, it's still a horrific crash. "

St.HelenaWineGuy wrote on Apr 17, 2009 12:52 PM:

" With damage as seen in the photo, this was no 35 mph collision!

As usual, people are speeding on Pratt (posted 35 mph). The local police don't give a damn about speeding on this street in spite of repeated calls from the residents for action.

There is a dog-leg in the road to the left as you approach the Trail, and these guys went into the tree. My guess is more than 50mph. "

LACousin wrote on Apr 17, 2009 1:04 PM:

" I hope we find out what happened so we can do what's necessary to ensure that it doesn't happen again. 3 lives lost, devastated parents, grandparents, siblings and families. A tragedy that has touched so many lives. It should not have happened. "

bloodagar wrote on Apr 17, 2009 1:20 PM:

" Either way, how tragic.

Another reason to thank all of the first responders who have to witness the aftermath of such incidents. "

UncleStuy wrote on Apr 17, 2009 3:25 PM:

" As the old saying goes "a picture is worth a thousand words". I agree, faster than 35 mph. "

jonb123 wrote on Apr 17, 2009 3:38 PM:

" I can't believe someone is whining about the way the article is written and a statement made by an officer. They aren't English majors, they're cops. If you've seen many vehicle collisions I'm sure you get a "feel" or what kind of speed crash it is. And they have measuring calculations if there are skid marks. Even a radar detector isn't 100% acurate. Just thought you might want to know. "

pinkflame wrote on Apr 17, 2009 5:00 PM:

" Its clearly evident it was a high speed crash, especially if you look closely at the tree. Either way, tragic. Slow down people. "

MarkMiwords wrote on Apr 17, 2009 8:53 PM:

" I live very close to where this happened. People frequently Pratt Ave. at 50 to 60MPH. The spped limit is 35MPH. Heading west, the road is straight. Heading east, there is a severe left curve in the road. This driver was heading east, and didn't make the left curve at all. He kept going straight. If the tree hadn't stopped him, the car would have gone into the Napa River. So sad. People slow down. "

napa1957 wrote on Apr 18, 2009 12:37 AM:

" I'm glad Mr. Leonardini was able to capture this photo. It tells the story. How sad for all of the families, and the friends at the CIA. "

starling wrote on Apr 18, 2009 6:12 AM:

" Let me put it this way, when I was in a head on crash, the car that hit me wasn't even 1/3rd as messed up as this one is. I was, thank god, in a SUV, and even accounting for the fact that my tow hitches were imbedded in her radiator, only the front end was messed up on our vehicles. This car shows damage to the doors, and middle to back tire area. This was definately a high speed crash. "

ketama wrote on Apr 18, 2009 9:10 AM:

" Completely agree with jonb123 . . . what a waste of space!

My heart goes out to all those left behind. "

tahoegal wrote on Apr 18, 2009 7:13 PM:

" Jake, R.I.P. You will never be forgotten!!! You will always be loved!!!

Your Tahoe Family
xoxoxo "

Victoria911 wrote on Apr 18, 2009 11:58 PM:

" UncleStuy, you are correct there were no witnesses to this accident, St. Helena Police is investigating the events leading to the accident, anyone with information who may have seen John, Jacob and Adam the evening of the accident should call the station and speak to an officer. The Security Officer came across the accident sometime after it occurred. For those of us in this line of work, we understand what a high speed collision looks like, this vehicle was going well over 50mph. The picture displayed is only a glimpse of the damage. My prayers go out to the families of those involved. "

monkeyface wrote on Apr 19, 2009 1:16 AM:

" Jake you were the best of friends, a
spectacular futbol player and always
determined in all of your endeavors.

I do not have any great epitaph-
Only so much love for the Shapiros.
Jake AKA Shady we will forever miss you.

No words can describe the loss the
Fieldston community, West Side Soccer
league peoples, and your family surely feel. "

britamsw wrote on Apr 19, 2009 10:13 AM:

" I am a family friend of one of the three men unfortunate to be involved in this horrific accident. I am not from the area, but from the comments written regarding this article, it sounds like this is not the first time something like this has happened on this road. I hope that the lives of these men do not go unnoticed by the city and something is done to make sure this doesn't happen again.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all the family members and friends of these three men. "

Sonomacores wrote on Apr 20, 2009 1:19 PM:

" My bestfriend was good friends with the driver... john melo. We are all saddened by the horrific accident we heard about on friday afternoon. Knowing our friend he was a good driver but we suspect alcohol/other substances had played a role in this tragic accident. Funeral service is not till tuesday so we have not heard anything about the toxcology results yet, I am just sorry that if that was the case, he took two innocent men with him. We are all deeply saddened by this event and very sorry his life ended this way. "

Join the conversation

*Member ID:
*Password:
Remember login? (requires cookies)
	Forgot Your Password?

Create an account

Comment Guidelines

The goal of the story comments section at NapaValleyRegister.com is to have an open, thought-provoking, civil community forum for all issues.

What gets your comment posted?

• Staying on topic

• Keeping your comment to 300 words or less

• Avoiding name-calling

• Addressing your comments to the message rather than the messenger

What gets your comment deleted?

• Personal attacks

• Derogatory remarks

• Name-calling of any sort

• Going off-topic

• Hate speech

• Racially-insensitive comments

• Implying guilt of a subject in a crime story before there is a court verdict

• Posting e-mail addresses

• Posting comments of a commercial nature

• POSTING WITH ALL CAPITAL LETTERS

• Linking multiple comments together with "to be continued..." to get around the 300 word limit.

The fine print

- Comments are either approved or denied. We do not edit comments.

- You are welcome to modify and resubmit a denied comment.

- Comments may take several hours to be posted.

- Comments posted are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of NapaValleyRegister.com, its employees or its parent company.

- Do you have information on a story? Please go to our virtual newsroom to send us a news tip.

- If you feel a posted comment has violated our guidelines, please contact online@napanews.com or add a comment indicating you have an issue and our moderators will review the comment in question.

Search: