By James Kelley
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wednesday October 16, 2002
Michael Turner Woods, a 2002 business graduate, was one of two people killed in Saturday's car accident on West Anklam Road, police said yesterday.
Woods name was withheld until police could notify his family of his death.
Woods, 25, was from Tucson and graduated in May 2002 with a business degree. He was an affiliate of the UA chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
Woods pledged his freshman year at the University of Nevada-Reno's SAE chapter and then transferred to the UA, making him a part of the UA's SAE chapter, said SAE president Colin Brown.
Mike will be incredibly missed and we will dedicate a plaque for him, Brown said.
Police released the name of the other person who died in the accident, economics junior Erik Steven Baumgartner, 21, on Sunday. Baumgartner was also an SAE member.
Woods and Baumgartner died in an auto accident on North Greasewood Road, between West Broadway Boulevard and West Anklam Road at about 3 a.m. on Saturday. The vehicle they were in, a white 1998 Mercedes SUV, flipped and rolled over after it swerved toward a silver 2002 Mitsubishi SUV that was heading north.
The occupants of the Mitsubishi escaped with minor injuries, though the driver, Desiree Velasco, 26, was arrested and released at the scene on charges of driving under the influence.
Associate Dean of Students Alexis Hernandez said she is pretty confident that the occupants of the Mitsubishi were all alumni, unless there is a coincidence between the names of three UA alumni and those involved in the accident.
Velasco graduated from UA in May 1999, Adrienne Durazo, 26, in August 2000 and Mavia Borboa, 27, in December 1997.
The Mercedes was traveling 80 miles per hour and a presence of alcohol was found inside, though police are not sure yet it if the driver, who police say they have not identified, was drinking.
Woods and Baumgartner were not wearing seatbelts.
Though he would not say his name, there was a third passenger, also an SAE, in the Mercedes, said Rusty Mitchell, SAE member and an engineering senior.
The third passenger was the driver of the vehicle and survived the crash, Mitchell said.
Sgt. Judy Altieri, spokeswoman for Tucson Police Department, said TPD does not know who owned the Mercedes or who the driver was and could not confirm whether there was a third person in the car.