Brandy and Lorenzo Sereno were dropping off their baby boy at grandma's in Alum Rock on Saturday evening hoping to catch the remake of "Nightmare on Elm Street."
But in a real-life nightmare, a suspected drunken driver — whose brother later told police had downed "20 Tecates" beforehand — caused a chain-reaction accident that sent cars plowing into the Serenos and three children playing in the front yard. All five were injured, two of the children seriously.
"Everyone was screaming and crying. Everyone called 911," Brandy Sereno told the Mercury News on Tuesday.
Sereno was pinned between the driver's white Plymouth minivan and her Expedition. Her husband, Lorenzo Sereno, who works in law enforcement, rushed to rescue his wife.
"My father-in-law, a neighbor and my husband pulled me up by my armpits to get me out from being pinned against my car by the van," Brandy Sereno said.
The Serenos suffered minor injuries, and their 10-month-old son, Lorenzo Jr., was unharmed in his car seat.
San Jose police arrested 28-year-old Rholdan Cabana, who lives a mile away on Wonderama Drive, on felony drunken-driving charges and one misdemeanor count for driving with a suspended license. His brother, who was in the van, told police he thought the 135-pound Cabana had drunk 20 Tecate beers at a party earlier that day.
Police reports show that Cabana tried to run away, but the 20 or so neighbors wouldn't let him go.
Cabana's blood alcohol level was more than the legal limit of 0.08, records show, but the exact level wasn't made public.
Lorenzo Sereno's two young relatives and a neighbor's son were more seriously injured. They had been playing in the yard of Lorenzo Sereno's parents' house on Farringdon Drive when the Serenos arrived about 6 p.m.
His 4-year-old sister, Lila Bruno, suffered the most serious injury — a fractured skull. She underwent brain surgery and was transferred Tuesday from Valley Medical Center to Children's Hospital in Oakland.
"The doctors had to clean her brain from dirt," Brandy Sereno said. "They're not sure how half of her brain will recover."
Christopher Ramirez, a 10-year-old neighbor, remains at Valley Medical Center with a skull fracture, a broken clavicle, a major rip to his left ear that requires surgery and cuts all over his face and body. Sereno's 6-year-old cousin, Leslie Manzano, was released from the hospital with some leg bruises.
When Lorenzo went up to the van to confront driver, the driver couldn't open his eyes and said, "Yeah man, I'm drunk. I'm drunk," according to a police report.
Cabana has no prior criminal history in Santa Clara County. But he was convicted three times since 2007 for minor traffic violations, such as not obeying signals and once, driving with either marijuana or an open container in his car, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles. He is scheduled to be arraigned today.
Calls to his parents' home were not immediately returned. He is in jail, and the number he provided police was not in service.
A police report says Cabana was driving at a "high rate of speed" when his minivan hit a black Chevy, which careened into a chain-link fence. The Chevy also struck Lila and the 6-year-old cousin. Cabana's van kept going, sideswiping a green Mercury Grand Marquis and a silver Ford Expedition, both parked on the street. And finally, it careened into Christopher.
The Serenos are thankful that their baby wasn't hurt. "It's really just a miracle," said Brandy Sereno, a student at San Jose City College who hopes to major in psychology.
The Serenos are praying for the two remaining hospitalized children to recover. They're trying not to be consumed by anger or grief but to turn the situation into something positive.
"My husband and I want to help out more in our community," Brandy Sereno said. "We put up fliers in the neighborhood saying we want speed bumps, or a sign that says, 'Kids at Play.' I made a call about joining MADD, too."
Read full story here:
