Victims of fatal Haight-Ashbury crash identified

Two men died Tuesday after a stolen Silver Saturn ran a red light
and plowed into a red Chevrolet in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco.
The medical examiner's office has identified the victims as Kristopher Bratt, 20,
of Mill Valley, and Alfonzo Felipe Cortez, 36, of an unknown address.
Photos by Stephen Dorion Miner

By Laura Dudnick

December 12, 2007

The San Francisco medical examiner's office has identified the men killed Tuesday morning in a fatal accident in San Francisco.

Kristopher Bratt, 20, of Mill Valley, and Alfonzo Felipe Cortez, 36, of an unknown address, died when a stolen silver Saturn sedan ran a red light and plowed into their car at a Haight Ashbury intersection at around 4:30 a.m.

The occupants of the Saturn, two 22-year-old San Francisco men, are behind bars facing charges stemming from the accident.

The driver, Richard Gosnell, blew through a red light at the intersection of Divisadero and Page streets, slamming into the victims' red Chevrolet, according to the San Francisco Police Sgt. Steve Mannina.

Gosnell is facing numerous charges including two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter, one count of felony hit and run, one count of evading police causing death, one count of stolen vehicle, one count of possession of stolen property, one count of speeding and one count of running a red light, Mannina said.

The Saturn's only passenger, Joshua Wilson, faces one count of stolen vehicle and one count of possessing stolen property, according to Mannina.

After the crash both Gosnell and Wilson were treated for minor injuries at San Francisco General Hospital and later taken into custody, where they remained this afternoon.

Police patrolling Page and Broderick streets at about 4 a.m. spotted the Saturn, ran its license plates and saw that the vehicle had been reported stolen, Mannina said.

The officers attempted to stop the vehicle but it continued to travel eastbound on Page Street, Mannina said.

At the intersection of Page and Divisadero streets, the Saturn collided with the Chevrolet that was traveling southbound on Divisadero Street, according to Mannina.

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