Castro Valley man killed in wreck was '05 Athenian High grad

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 18, 2008 | by Karen Holzmeister

By Karen Holzmeister

CASTRO VALLEY -- As a high school and college student, Scott Leister spent as much time as possible in Central America, volunteering his time and carpentry skills to help the poor.

Leister, 21, also worked with Bay Area Mountain Rescue, a volunteer search-and-rescue team.

Her son had just received his wilderness emergency medical technician's certification, Carol Leister recalled Monday, and planned a career helping others here and abroad.

But those plans tragically were cut short early Sunday morning, when Scott Leister was killed in a car crash on the Bay Bridge.

''This is the most devastating, horrible pain ever,'' Carol Leister said Monday night, after she and her husband, Chris, returned from planning their son's funeral. ''I can only say that Scott lived a full life. Everything he did, he did it 100 percent.''

Leister, a 2005 graduate of the Athenian School in Danville, was the third young Castro Valley resident within a week to die in a car crash.

Sarah Streicher, 17, and Clark Wright, 18, both of Castro Valley, were killed Aug. 12 on Dublin Canyon Road. The California Highway Patrol said Wright lost control of his 1997 Corvette, in which Streicher was a passenger.

Scott Leister was returning home from San Francisco with his brother, Chris, and two friends at 2:20 a.m. Sunday when their Mercedes-Benz was rammed from behind by a motorist suspected of drunken driving.

Jerell Puno, 22, of Fairfield was arrested shortly after the accident on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol. He posted $102,500 bail later Sunday and was released from Alameda County jail.

CHP spokesman Shawn Chase said witnesses told officers that Puno was driving his Subaru Impreza eastbound, on the lower deck of the bridge, at more than 100 miles per hour.

Just east of Treasure Island, Puno rear-ended the Mercedes-Benz, according to the CHP. Both cars spun out on impact, slamming into the bridge railing, Chase said. Scott Leister, who was sitting in the back seat of the Mercedes, was pinned inside and pronounced dead at the scene.

His brother, Chris, and two friends in the Mercedes were hospitalized at Highland Hospital in Oakland for minor injuries and released.

Puno, who suffered only minor scrapes, was able to escape the Subaru before it burst into flames, Chase added.

Scott Leister, who was born in Castro Valley, played Little League baseball and soccer growing up. He spoke Spanish, and also enjoyed mountain climbing. At Athenian, he was on the soccer team and in the school band.

He was on break from the National Wilderness Leadership School, affiliated with the University of Utah, which teaches wilderness skills and environmental education.

''My son was a loving guy, wonderful with people,'' Scott's dad, also named Chris Leister, recalled. ''He was very giving of himself.''

In addition to his parents, Scott Leister is survived by a sister, Korin Becraft of Oakland; two brothers, Michael and Chris Leister, both of Oakland; and his grandmother, Sally Stanke of Oregon.

Services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Jess C. Spencer Mortuary, 21228 Redwood Road. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the mortuary. The family is organizing a memorial fund.