Family pays to free son from Mexican hospital
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 7, 1999 -- Two Americans hurt in an accident near Rosarito Beach in Mexico were held for hours before one of them was transported across the border to a San Diego hospital.
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KCBS - 4:10 PM 11/8/99 "Kevin (Lewand) was bleeding internally, his blood pressure was dropping rapidly, he had a serious cerebral edema, his pulse was increasing, his oxygen level was dropping. ... He was about to die," said Ron Jensen, a paramedic for Baja Medix, a Mexican ambulance company. |
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| Kevin Lewand (above was injured in an accident in Mexico early Saturday. His parents say they had to pay $11,000 to Mexican authorities to get their son back across the border. |
The accident happened early Saturday morning. Lewand was a passenger in a Jeep Cherokee that rolled over. The driver was killed. The other passenger suffered minor injuries and was thrown in jail. All three men are from Tustin.
Lewand's mother says she didn't hear about the accident until six hours after it happened. She could not obtain her son's release for another 12 hours. She was stopped at the hospital by Tijuana police who demanded money. "They told us that they have to have a bond to get out, or a release from the person who was driving that they are promising not to sue the Mexican government," Jeanne Lewand told reporters Sunday. She claims they insisted on pesos rather than American dollars, which took a few hours to get changed.
Lewand reportedly suffered multiple fractures, broken ribs, a ruptured spleen and a punctured lung. The three men were on their way to a vacation home one of them owned in the resort area of Las Gaviotas.
Barry Walsh, also hurt in the accident, remains in a Tijuana hospital. "He is in a third floor hospital room. I spoke to him last night. Barry is okay. But they're telling him he needs $11,000 in cash to post bond to be released," said Jeanne Lewand.
In August, Donald Kraft of Valley Center was detained in Mexico under similar circumstances. He was held for 18 hours while his family obtained bail after he was critically injured in a car accident. Kraft later died. Kraft's brother David told us, "This is the story I read about my brother all over again. People I came in contact with today telling me basically what happened. And I'm just thinking this is nothing but extortion." Our efforts to contact Mexican officials were unsuccessful.
The third man in the accident was the driver, Keith Takabayahsi, 30. He was killed when the Jeep rolled over.
