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.
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.
ESCONDIDO — A man who was killed in a fire that damaged four Escondido condominiums has been identified as 35-year-old David Ronald Mick. Investigators still have not determined what started the early-morning blaze at the 40-unit complex on East Washington Avenue near North Elm Street, which was reported around 4:40 a.m. Saturday. Investigators said the blaze caused $400,000 in damage to the building and $10,000 to its contents, said Escondido Fire Department Batallion Chief Randy Brookes. Mick was living in a foreclosed condo, possibly with friends, the county Medical Examiner’s Office said.
SAN MARCOS — While the Sheriff’s Department investigates what caused a Fourth of July fireworks display in San Marcos to go awry, witnesses to the accident are questioning how close is too close when it comes to watching pyrotechnics. Investigators said the firework apparently malfunctioned, shooting sideways and ricocheting off a caretaker’s home in Bradley Park before blasting into a group of nearby spectators Sunday night. The 9:20 p.m. incident occurred before the grand finale could be fired off and abruptly put an end to the show. An estimated 4,000 people were in attendance, with another 7,000 to 8,000 viewing the fireworks in the general vicinity, city spokeswoman Jenny Peterson said Tuesday. San Elijo resident Joe Silva was lying in a nearby baseball field with his wife and children. The technicians doing the show seemed to be having trouble from the beginning, with awkward stops and starts, Silva said. Then he saw the flash about three feet off the ground. “People started screaming,” he said. “I saw a lady holding a kid saying, ‘Help us! Help us!’” When the firework hit the building, it split into two pieces, said witness Jared Wyrick, who was at the home’s fence line with his 13-year-old son, Kane. One piece of explosive then hit the ground and struck a man sitting in a red chair. He jumped up and was screaming in pain as flames licked at his back. People pounded on him to put out the fire. The second piece hit a man in a lounge chair. “It was a large fireball. It was very frightening,” said Wyrick, who lives in Carlsbad. One person was taken to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido with minor burns and was later released. Three others were treated at the scene. Investigators with the sheriff’s bomb/arson unit were finishing interviews Tuesday with witnesses and examining photographs taken during the accident, Sgt. Everard Dayrit said. The findings will be turned over to the Office of the State Fire Marshal, which regulates fireworks shows. Pyro Spectaculars by Souza, the Rialto-based company that put on the show, didn’t return phone calls Tuesday. The $20,000 show, funded through community donations, has been held for the past 25 years without incident, city officials said. Mayor Jim Desmond, who witnessed the explosion in the park, said it’s too early to tell how the incident will affect future shows. “It’s an unfortunate accident that’s still being investigated,” Desmond said. “We’ll have to see if any lessons can be learned and make sure we’re as safe as we possibly can be. There’s been no decision made to cancel them.” For the Silva family, Sunday’s incident was a wake-up call. “It could have hit us just as easily,” Joe Silva said. “We’re going to rethink it next year. For sure, we won’t be that close.”
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.
A boy suffered an arrow wound to the head in Escondido Friday afternoon. The victim, whose age was unknown, was playing with an amateur bow and arrow set off San Pasqual Road near Bear Valley Parkway about 3 p.m. when his brother shot him, the Sheriff’s Department said. The boy suffered a wound above the eye, but the unsharpened end of the arrow did not penetrate his head, and he is expected to survive. He was flown to Children’s Hospital.
SAN DIEGO — A man lying under a pickup truck parked at a Mira Mesa home was run over and injured early Wednesday morning. The driver of the Toyota Tacoma told officers he was pulling out the driveway of his home on Berwyn Road off Reagan Road just before 6 a.m. when he “felt the front wheel jerk,” said San Diego police Sgt. Jim Reschke. He continued to back up and had gone about 12 feet when he saw the man on the concrete and realized it was his friend, Reschke said. The 23-year-old victim was drunk and had passed out, Reschke said. He had been curled up on his side and the front passenger tire rolled over his back and chest leaving tire marks on him, Reschke said. The man was alert and talking after the accident and was taken to a hospital. The extent of his injuries is unknown, police said.
SAN DIEGO — A Southcrest couple is grappling with the tragic death of their toddler son, who ran into the path of a garbage truck driving past their home Friday. He was identified by the Medical Examiner’s Office as Jovani Louangxaysongxham, who was a month shy of his third birthday. Jovani’s mother was trying to put him and an older sibling into a vehicle parked in the driveway of their home on 43rd Street and Keeler Avenue about noon when the child spotted his father across the busy road, said San Diego police Lt. Ken Hubbs. Jovani began to run across the street to greet him, straight into the path of an Allied Waste Services truck that was moving at a slow rate of speed north on 43rd. A passenger in the truck alerted the driver, who was unable to swerve or stop in time, Hubbs said. Jovani went under the vehicle and was struck by its rear wheels. He died at the scene. Moments later, the boy’s father and uncle tried attacking the truck’s driver, forcing an officer to intervene, police said. The uncle then punched the officer in the head and knocked him unconscious. The uncle was arrested. Riashe Rodriguez and her mother were driving home when they came upon the crash scene and saw the violent encounter. “The father was hitting the dump truck and the cops tried to control him,” Rodriguez, 17, said. “They finally got him away and his brother got mad too and the cops started fighting with him.” The officer was taken to the hospital and treated for a head injury and a gash over his left eye. Neighbors and family members consoled Jovani’s mother, who watched the aftermath from the front porch of the one-story home. The road was closed for several hours as firefighters worked to recover the body from beneath the 50,000-pound truck, loaded with about nine tons of garbage. Crews used two 70-ton air bags stacked on top of one another to lift the rear of the truck three inches off the ground to free the remains, said Adam Villaescusa, a San Diego Fire-Rescue Department engineer.
