ESCONDIDO – An 18-year-old woman was killed and two others injured in a car wreck Friday night. Escondido police said the unidentified woman died when she tried to make a left turn at the intersection of Escondido Boulevard and Centre City Parkway in a 1998 Mitsubishi Mirage. She pulled out in front of a driver in a 1994 Nissan pickup truck and the two cars collided. The woman died at the crash site and her 16-year-old passenger was described as having serious injuries. The truck’s driver suffered minor injuries. Alcohol was not believed to be a factor in the crash.
A man was arrested early Tuesday on suspicion of drunken driving after crashing an SUV into a condominium in the College Area. The crash was reported at the complex on Collwood Boulevard near Montezuma Road at 1:45 a.m., a dispatcher with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said. A woman inside the home was not injured. The driver’s name was not released.
SAN DIEGO — Homicide detectives are investigating the suspicious death of a person found inside a burning car early Friday in San Pasqual. The body was found by San Diego firefighters around 1:10 a.m. after crews put out a car that was on fire on Highland Valley Road near Old Coach Way. After the fire was extinguished, the body was found inside what appeared to be a dark-colored Hyundai. Investigators said it was not clear if the body was that of a man or a woman. It was found on the driver’s side, said homicide Lt. Ernie Herbert. The car, which was registered to a person living in San Diego County, was not involved in a collision before the fire, Herbert said. “It was definitely not an accident,” he said. “It appears to be on fire for some reason.”
SAN DIEGO — San Diego police are recommending serious charges against a teen driver involved in a high-speed crash in Sabre Springs that killed her 17-year-old best friend, 10News learned.
Police estimated Meagan Ruiz may have been driving in excess of 80 mph when she crossed the center line and slammed head-on into an Enterprise rental truck on May 28.
Five teenagers were in the car, and 17-year-old BreAnna Erickson, sitting in the middle back seat, died at the scene. The other teens suffered injuries and were taken to the hospital.
Erickson recently finished her junior year at Rancho Bernardo High School and hoped to become a pediatrician, friends and family said.
Ruiz and Erickson were best friends, and Erickson’s parents said Ruiz was like another daughter to them and are hoping she will not face prosecution.
“I guess that goes to that judgment thing, and a poor decision was made,” said Mark Woody, Erickson’s stepfather.
San Diego police have recommended charges of gross vehicular manslaughter, reckless driving causing bodily injury and speeding.
Ruiz was driving on a provisional license, meaning no other teens in the car unless accompanied by an adult.
The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office will now weigh the evidence, punishment and deterrence in the case.
“What kind of message does the DA send to the public? Then they have to deal with the appropriate punishment for her, the specific deterrent. What kind of price should she pay? Probably more in what she’s going through than the criminal justice system could do to her,” said trial attorney Guadalupe Valencia.
A felony conviction could bring as much as six years in prison Ruiz, but Valencia said it’s more likely misdemeanor charges would be pursued in the juvenile system, with a more likely term of a year or less at an honor camp.
The decision on prosecution should be made within the next few weeks.
It was truly a rude awakening for a Mira Mesa man early Wednesday after a suspected drunken driver slammed a pickup into his home. Homeowner Rod Anderson said he was sleeping at his house on Arrow Rock Avenue and Gold Coast Drive about 1:45 a.m. when he heard the crash and then heard voices. He called 911 and then walked down the hall where he found a large Mazda truck completely inside his house. The truck had crashed through the front wall and window and then took out another inside wall, leaving the truck half in the living room and half in the kitchen, Anderson said. The passenger had crawled out of the window and over the hood to help the driver get out, Anderson said. The driver had scratches but neither man was hospitalized, Anderson said. Firefighters determined that the house was not safe to enter. Anderson said he is waiting outside for his insurance company and building inspectors to arrive to tell him what to do next. He said his wife was visiting grand children in Lancaster and that she did not know yet what happened. She was not going to be happy when she finds out what happened to her antiques that include Tiffany lamps and other heirlooms that were damaged, Anderson said. The couple have lived in the house since 1974. A driver for UPS, the homeowner said he is on vacation and is set to retire August 1. “I told everyone I was going into a new adventure,” Anderson said. “But this is not quite the adventure I was looking for.” Police did not release any information about the driver.
SAN DIEGO — A 3-year-old boy was struck by a car and killed Friday in Encanto, police said. The toddler was being watched by his 12-year-old brother when the crash occurred on Madrone Avenue near Woodman Street shortly before noon, San Diego police said. The older boy told his little brother to stay on the sidewalk while he crossed the street to get a dog, but the toddler apparently didn’t listen and went into the road, police said. The boy was struck by a green Toyota Corolla and killed. His name has not been released. The car’s 19-year-old driver reportedly left the scene momentarily but came back, said San Diego police Sgt. Ray Battrick. The crash remains under investigation.
A 48-year-old Temecula resident was killed Sunday when he lost control of the motorcycle he was riding and slid into a truck on Lilac Road in Valley Center, the Medical Examiner’s office reported. Bradley Robert Eckhardt was riding a 1969 Yamaha R350 southbound on Lilac, just south of West Lilac Road, at about 10:30 a.m. when he collided with a Dodge Ram 250 towing a loaded horse trailer. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The Medical Examiner’s office said it is not known why he lost control of the motorcycle. An autopsy is pending.
SAN DIEGO — A suspected drunken driver crashed through a chain-link fence, crossed a field and hit an electrical box early Thursday morning, leaving one passenger with major head injuries, police said. The woman, who was in her 30s, was driving a Pontiac Firebird west on Paradise Valley Road near South Meadowbrook Drive in Bay Terraces when she drove off the road, police said. The driver suffered minor injuries and was being held for observation, said police Sgt. Ray Battrick. Charges against her are pending, he said. A man riding in the car was taken to the hospital with major head injuries and a female passenger suffered minor injuries, police said.
SAN DIEGO — A former spokesman for Caltrans in San Diego was killed in a head-on crash in Wyoming, authorities said Monday. Jim Larson, 70, was driving north on state Highway 789 about 3 p.m. near the very small community of Muddy Gap when his Jeep Cherokee was struck by a 2002 Chevy pickup heading south, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol. Investigators said the truck driver drifted across the center line and then hit the driver’s side door as the Jeep moved to avoid the collision. The impact sheared the door off the SUV and Larson was ejected. He died at the scene. A passenger was injured and was taken to a hospital in Rawlins, the Highway Patrol said. Authorities did not release any information about the driver. A friend of the family said that Larson was traveling to a family gathering.
RINGTOWN, Pa. — A 19-year-old Pennsylvania man riding his bicycle to San Diego to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research was struck and killed by an SUV in New Mexico. Officials say John Anczarski, of Ringtown, Pa., died Tuesday of injuries suffered a day earlier in New Laguna, N.M., about 50 miles west of Albuquerque. Anczarski, a University of Colorado engineering student, and three friends called their project “The Pink Pedal.” The group said it had raised several thousand dollars for cancer research. They left Pennsylvania on May 23 and expected to reach San Diego next month. Police say the investigation into the crash has been turned over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, because the accident occurred on tribal land. No charges have been filed.
