David Alvarez and his family were en route to the zoo on Feb. 18 and had stopped at S.W. 6th and Gage when a speeding Chevrolet Impala ran a red light, crashing into a Toyota Camry.
The impact “was deafening,” Alvarez said Friday in Shawnee County District Court. “I could feel the debris all over my vehicle.”
Alvarez testified during the preliminary hearing of Marcos Adan Cruz Jr., 20, of Topeka. From the point of impact, the Camry was forced southwesterly into the fence of the Topeka Zoo black bear enclosure, Alvarez said.