Children Surabaya Mergonoto hit American families to coma in San Jose (street racing)

Two men arrested for a street race crash that seriously injured a young woman leaving a bowling alley told Santa Clara officers they were on their way to get some fast-food chicken when they decided to “step on the gas,” according to police reports. Chandra Deddy Purnama, 25, of San Francisco and Vincent Christopher Mergonoto, 19, of San Jose acknowledged to officers they were going about 70 mph on Kiely Boulevard late Sunday night, according to the police reports made public following the drivers’ Wednesday arraignment.
Mergonoto’s black Mercedes crashed into a 23-year-old San Jose woman’s Honda as she was pulling out of the bowling alley where she worked. She suffered severe brain and heart injuries in the crash and remains in critical condition.
Mergonoto, a De Anza College student who posted $500,000 bail, told officers he was driving about “65 or 70 mph” along a street where the speed limit is 35 mph. But he added that he wasn’t racing, Purnama was “just trying to keep up” with him.
Purnama, who is unemployed and still in custody, was driving a rented yellow Corvette and was about two blocks behind, reports state. His Corvette was not directly involved in the crash, and when he saw the two mangled vehicles in front of him, he told police he “freaked out,” because he “did not want to get in trouble” and took off. He ended up returning to the scene, because he said he did “not want police looking for him,” reports state.
Attempts to reach Mergonoto and Purnama by phone and Facebook messages were unsuccessful. Mergonoto’s brother said by e-mail that he wanted to defer all comment to an attorney, who did not immediately call the Mercury News.
The two men are scheduled to reappear in court Wednesday. Each face one felony count of a “speed contest” that caused great bodily injury.
The woman, whom the Mercury News is not naming, was still in critical condition at Stanford University Medical Center on Thursday with a brain injury and torn aorta, a friend and a cousin said. She had once attended De Anza College, was working at AMF Moonlite Lanes Bowling Center on El Camino Real and had aspirations of becoming a beautician, according to her friend.
In October 2009, 20-year-old Alyson Snow, a popular cheerleader who graduated from Leland High School in San Jose, was killed when her Jetta was sandwiched between two convicted street racers. In that race, the drivers did not know each other, and simply gestured to each other to race.
In this case, Mergonoto and Purnama told police they are good friends and were hanging out at a mutual friend’s place in Santa Clara with several De Anza College students.
The group decided they were hungry and left in three cars, including another Mercedes driven by Mergonoto’s brother, according to police reports. They were headed for 99 Chicken on El Camino Real.
Both drivers also had passengers who confirmed various aspects of the story to police.
Vincent Mergonoto told officers, according to the report, that he “stepped on the gas” at Kiely Boulevard and Butte Street, and Purnama tried to keep up with him. He told police he just got his driver’s license six months ago, and had already gotten one speeding ticket for driving 83 mph on the freeway.
Purnama, who wasn’t wearing his glasses that night, told a slightly different version of the story to police, according to the reports.
“So you were racing?” a traffic officer asked.
“Yeah,” Purnama answered.
Contact Lisa Fernandez at 408-920-5002.