Street Racers Charged With Murder

June 28, 2005 -- -- Fresno, Calif., police are cracking down on street racing after a woman -- the daughter of a local auto racing legend -- was killed last week when her truck was hit by a car that was drag racing.

Street racing, which police said is an epidemic in Fresno, has claimed the lives of nearly 400 people across the country in the last three years, according to federal highway safety experts.

Police say street racing used happen mostly at night, and in relatively isolated places, but now it occurs anywhere and any time two drivers are willing, even in broad daylight.

Diana Pombo-Covell, 39, daughter of Al Pombo, was on her way home from work on June 13 when two drag racers ran a stop sign in southwest Fresno, officers said.

"An innocent victim going home. Probably that didn't know what hit her," California Highway Patrol Officer Axel Reyes said. "Just driving along, a lot of orchards … intersections are somewhat blind. Obviously, didn't expect someone to run a stop sign and probably didn't know what was coming."

Witnesses said Pombo-Covell's truck was hit by a Pontiac Grand Am, which pushed her pickup into the path of an oncoming truck, according to the CHP. The driver of the Grand Am fled, leaving a 15-year-old boy behind in the wreckage of his car.

The other vehicle allegedly involved in the drag race, a Volkswagen Passat, avoided the crash and sped off, police said.

The driver of the Grand Am, identified as Jorge Batalla, 20, was arrested the night after the crash at Madera Community Hospital, where he had been admitted under an alias.

The driver of the Passat, identified as Miguel Angel Silvas, 27, was arrested on June 15 after information was provided by witnesses, police said.

Batalla and Silvas were both arraigned Monday on charges of second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter, driving with a suspended license and leaving the scene of an accident. They could face 15 years to life in prison if convicted of the second-degree murder charge.