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Criminal Records - Most Wanted |
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Profile |
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Name: Juan Bautista
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Race: Hispanic |
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Age Now: 27 |
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Height: 5'5" |
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Weight: 150 lbs. |
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Hair (Color, Description, Facial Hair): Black |
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Eyes (Color and Correction): Brown
Glasses |
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Wanted for :
Aggravated Assault (2nd degree), Franklinville, NJ;
Sep 16, 2003
Three Counts of Assault by Auto (3rd degree), Franklinville, NJ;
Sep 16, 2003
Reckless Driving, Franklinville, NJ;
Sep 16, 2003
Driving While Intoxicated, Franklinville, NJ;
Sep 16, 2003
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Location(s) |
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Last Seen : Gloucester County, NJ |
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Possible Location : New Jersey |
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Last Known : Unkown |
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Traits |
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Case Story |
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Aspiring Racer's Tragedy Could Change The Law |
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Later this year, New Jersey's State Senate will consider Bill 1843. If it passes it will be a small relief to the four years of pain suffered by the family of Chris Applegate.
Chris was an aspiring race car driver who, shortly after watching a documentary on drag racing star Shirley Muldowney, declared, "That's what I want to be, the next Shirley Muldowney!"
Chris had already been introduced to the sport by her husband Jim. Jim and Chris would spend their weekends at ATCO Raceway in Atco, New Jersey. Though Chris often beat men in her Ford Mustang GTO, she didn't think much of her drag racing prowess. But as her race times continued to lower, Jim knew she had something special. When he showed her the documentary on Muldowney, Chris began to believe in herself.
When Chris wasn't practicing at the track, she could be found working behind the counter at the WaWa convenience store in Franklinville, New Jersey. The store is the center of the small town, and Chris was a mainstay who knew everybody. But whenever she got away from the store, she would go to ATCO Raceway and put the pedal to the metal. |
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She Was Going To Be A Superstar |
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It was a warm spring night in 2003 when Len Intelisano noticed a young woman changing her street tires to racing tires. Len had been looking for a new driver for his Chevy Camaro Super Stock and was talking to some other drivers when he noticed Chris. But he assumed that she was changing the tires for either a boyfriend or husband. But the other men told him otherwise.
Len watched her race and was convinced that Chris was ready to make the leap. All summer they traveled the country setting times at racetracks to raise her rankings. At the end of September Chris was set to travel to Indianapolis.
On September 16, 2003 Chris was back at home in Franklinville and she worked the day shift at Wawa. At 4:00 p.m. she left work. She went home and cooked dinner for Jim, who usually worked the late shift as a truck mechanic. Chris would take him dinner once or twice a week.
It was to be a short trip. As she drove past the Wawa, she waved at some of her co-workers. She stopped at the red light, and when it turned green she made the left as she had done a thousand times before. But she didn't see the red Ford Explorer traveling 90 mph toward her. |
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Doctors Don't Think She'll Ever Recover |
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The collision sounded like an explosion. As people poured outside to investigate they could see that the pile of white wreckage in the middle of the street was Chris' Mustang. The Ford Explorer came to rest on the lawn of the fire department. But the paramedics were more concerned with trying to save Chris. By the time she had been airlifted to a nearby hospital, she had fallen into a coma.
Cops say Juan Bautista, the driver of the red Explorer, was drunk. He survived with just a scratch on his finger. He was arrested but bonded out. When police realized Chris was not coming out of the coma they added more charges and Bautista was arrested again. Again, he was able to post bond. That was the last time anyone saw Juan Bautista.
Today, Chris lives on a ventilator and feeding tube, and is in a vegetative state. Doctors do not think she will ever come back. Someone must care for Chris every hour of the day. But her family keeps hope alive. For Chris and her family, it's a sentence far worse than anything Juan Bautista could receive.
Bautista is a free man because a judge posted his bond at only $20,000. In New Jersey a defendant only needs to put ten percent cash down against collateral, and Juan Bautista was able to dig up the $2,000 he needed.
Chris' family has decided to fight back and change that law. If the bill passes, passes anyone charged with a felony in New Jersey must post the full cash bond. Had Juan Bautista been required to do this, he probably would be cooling his heels in a Garden State jail cell right now.
As one family member put it, "I know that he'll never get what he should have coming to him, even if he gets caught. He's never going to get what she's got. Just to lay there lifeless. I hope one day maybe the pain gets easier. Will it? I don't know." |
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