> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Tragedy of crash forever etched into our minds - URL: https://www.smdp.com/tragedy-of-crash-forever-etched-into-our-minds/ - Published: 2003-07-24T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T02:38:30.000Z - Author: Carolyn Sackariason - Tags: Business, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless *Santa Monicans pull together in healing process* As I walked down the same path to Wednesday’s memorial as I did last week when I responded to the farmer’s market tragedy, an overwhelming sense of anxiety, grief and sadness overcame me. I watched hundreds of people gather at the farmer’s market just like they do every Wednesday. But this week was different. While I was standing in the middle of Arizona Avenue, I thought about how many times I have come to the farmer’s market and witnessed the same scene: families pushing their kids in strollers, homeless people asking for money, Hare Krishnas chanting, people buying produce and community members interacting with one another. All of that was happening just like at any other Wednesday market, except this time there was a thick layer of grief hanging in the air. Hundreds of people were standing in a circle at the market’s center crying, mourning and praying. Members of the media were filming and interviewing market vendors. Detectives were interviewing witnesses, trying to recreate the scene. People who were hit by 86-year-old Russell Weller’s car were walking through the market on crutches. City of Santa Monica trucks served as barriers at each end of the market, replacing wooden detour signs. Conversations amongst residents were about the accident and how fortunate they felt about being alive. And it didn’t rain on Wednesday. It rains less than 30 days a year in Santa Monica — and hardly ever in the summer. About two hours after last week’s tragedy, I stood at the corner of Fourth Street and Arizona Avenue waiting for a press conference to begin. Still in awe of the helicopters landing on Fourth Street to transport the injured to hospitals, the skies above downtown Santa Monica grew dark and it began pouring. The expression on every person’s face around me was of pure shock. Now as the shock begins to wear off, the community is trying to cope with the aftermath of last week’s tragedy while continuing on with their daily lives. Both the police and fire chief said it was the worst accident scene they’ve ever encountered. And as a journalist, July 16 will be etched in my mind forever. When one of my co-workers, SMDP ad salesman William Pattnosh, called me seconds after Weller plowed through the market, I immediately sent two reporters to the scene who were only steps away. They were the first journalists there and saw firsthand the carnage and chaos Weller left behind. After listening to the scanner in the newsroom for a couple of minutes, I realized the enormity of the accident and rushed through the alley between the Promenade and Fourth Street where it meets Arizona Avenue. It was where Weller first hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and then within minutes, it became the main triage area for emergency workers. 433,SMDP reporter John Wood stood with me after we watched 3-year-old Cindy Palacios Valladares take her last breaths while her mother screamed hysterically in the background. For an hour, emergency workers and by-standers endlessly brought the wounded for treatment to the triage area where we were standing. It was like watching a movie — completely unreal and horrific. But it became real to me again when I noticed one of our co-workers, SMDP ad salesman Rob Piubeni, at the scene helping emergency workers. I watched him as he helped victims and provided support to police, fire and paramedics. He eventually walked away from the scene when he was no longer needed. His pants were bloodstained and his mind forever scarred because the first woman he responded to died while he was getting her help. As a reporter, I was given access behind the police tape. I was with a half dozen journalists whose adrenaline was rushing as much as mine was. We stepped over bodies while we snapped our pictures and cameramen filmed their footage to capture the scene as best as we could. As we ran down Arizona Avenue through the carnage, all I could think about was how absolutely devastating it was going to be for this community and how difficult it would be to deal with once the story came out. Even the people that watched the events unfold on TV are emotionally damaged. Those who responded to the scene are dealing with what they saw in their own ways. As a journalist, I couldn’t walk away from the scene and go home. I knew I had to face several more hours of writing the stories, selecting the appropriate photos and packaging it all together. And then I had to do again the next day and the next... Now more than a week later, I still haven’t had time to process the tragedy, like many of us. But Wednesday’s day of remembrance helped and coming together is key to healing, as many community leaders suggested. “I was here this morning to watch the farmer’s market open up for the first time since last week’s tragedy,” Mayor Richard Bloom said Wednesday. “I watched the first lifting of all the canopies and it made me think about this community, the way it has risen up during this time of tragedy. This community has risen right back up like the canopies.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/072403-04_01.jpg) Above: Hundreds gath- (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/072403-04_02.jpg) From top clockwise: A family strolls through the farmer’s market Wednesday unaware of the tarred over street where a victim lied in last week’s accident. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 24, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/072403.pdf?ref=smdp.com)