Tonight, family, friends and the cycling community are grieving the immeasurable loss of young Ariel Rosado. The twenty-eight year old was killed in a terrible traffic accident just before midnight on Saturday. It happened at the roundabout near SMART when Rosado and his cycling friend Marlon Castillo were heading into the City. Rosado, a National Road Champ himself, was also well known to this station, having appeared as co-host on our morning show and more recently as a special commentator during Holy Saturday's Cross Country coverage. Rosado, the son of former K.H.M.H. C.E.O., Dr. Alvaro, and Dorla Rosado, was employed at the law firm Courtenay Coye since 2008 as an Attorney in Training. News Five's Isani Cayetano reports.
Winston Swift, Best Friend of Ariel Rosado
Winston Swift
"At no time I would have thought that [and] even watching the vehicle crashing into the cement wall I thought you know what "me and Ariel [Rosado] wah laugh 'bout this and tell Marlon [Castillo] bwai yoh mess up yoh truck" and at no time I thought that he would have been dead."
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
An evening of socializing amongst best friends turned tragic on Saturday around eleven p.m. when former cyclist and budding attorney Ariel Rosado became the unfortunate victim of a fatal traffic accident near mile two on the Northern Highway.
Winston Swift
"We were coming down. We were hanging out at a house, you know. I was in a vehicle behind the [Toyota] Tacoma, well I was in front of the Tacoma actually before the accident occurred. I looked back [and] I saw the Tacoma coming and it overtook us [so] I told my friend who was driving the vehicle to pull on the side that we were on and let the Tacoma go� We were approaching the roundabout and I didn't see how at that speed it would take the roundabout so I gave them as much space. I asked him [the driver of the vehicle] to give them as much space and he pulled on the side and the Tacoma passed us and it slammed into the fence. [It] went up, came down and then finally it stopped at the median."
The driver of the vehicle, twenty-three year old Marlon Castillo, a fellow cyclist with whom Rosado had been a passenger lost control of his pickup which careened violently off the traffic circle and hitting this concrete fence before coming to rest moments later. His best friend Winston who was following in a separate vehicle was the first respondent.
Winston Swift
"I quickly rushed over to the vehicle and the driver, Marlon Castillo, he just kept yelling to me that aux stick, the aux stick, the accelerator, the aux stick so I said okay [and I asked] where's Ariel and he said Ariel is in the vehicle. And I quickly ran and got him out of there and I put him in the vehicle and sent him to the hospital."
Despite their effort to immediately transport Rosado to the K.H.M.H. the twenty-eight year old would not survive the massive cranial impact he received during the collision. Ariel Rosado succumbed to his injuries less than an hour later.
Marlon Castillo
Ariel Rosado, Deceased (File: April 23rd, 2011)
"This is Ariel Rosado reporting for Channel Five from the start of the 2011 Cross Country Cycling Classic and we thank you for staying in tune with us and please continue staying tuned. We'll have full coverage for you. Saying goodbye from the start and we'll pick it up in a few minutes."
Baby Jamis, as he was known amongst his colleagues, rose to prominence in the late nineties with veteran cyclist Santiago Castillo Jr. as his mentor.
Santiago Castillo Jr., Former Coach, Jamis
Santiago Castillo Jr
"He surprised the entire cycling world in Belize when he beat Quinton [Hamilton] in the 2000 New Year's Krem Classic and stamped his authoritativeness in cycling with that victory. He later won the National Road Championship, I want to believe the year was 2001 and or 2002. But Ariel was the consummate team player and he and Jawmaine were the one-two punch."
Ariel Rosado (File: March 28th, 2002)
"At times it's rough because you have to sacrifice yourself, you have to work for others at times. But at other times it pays off, they work for you, you get the victory at times, so it can be rough at times. But like they keep on reminding me on this team, I'm still young, so for now I can sacrifice myself for men like Jawmaine or the seniors and then in two years time it'll be my turn when the team starts to work me and I can start to be the victor of the races, so it's worth it."
Winston Swift
"Well, I met Ariel Rosado in high school; it was [in] third form, you know, I was into cycling but not a professional cyclist. [I] just liked riding and I always wanted to end up riding with Ariel in a race and I had my chance in high school and we were kind of like rivals, you know. I always wanted to beat him but I wasn't nowhere around his caliber of riding so in third form I actually met up with Ariel and we became good friends from since third form, fourth form, sixth form. After sixth form, him going to study, coming back, working and we just kept a very close relationship."
�a close relationship which ended in disaster. Castillo, who wasn't seriously injured, has since been served a notice of intended prosecution. Meanwhile Belize City police continue their investigation into the accident. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
Castillo was formally arraigned this afternoon on a slew of charges; Manslaughter by Negligence, Causing Death by Careless Conduct, Driving Motor Vehicle without Due Care and Attention, Driving Motor Vehicle with Alcohol Concentration Above the Prescribed Limit and Driving an Unlicensed Motor Vehicle. The case was adjourned until June sixteenth and Castillo was granted bail of five thousand dollars. He is being represented by Attorney Richard "Dickie" Bradley.
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