A Deadly, ‘Crazy Night’ Claims 3 on Highways

Even in the often grim world of Orange County traffic patrol, it was the kind of weekend they talk about for years.

Two men in a speeding Corvette died, and four people were injured in a head-on collision in Rancho Santa Margarita.

Six young women returning from a night of dancing and drinking in Los Angeles smashed into the guardrail on the Santa Ana Freeway, leaving one dead and five injured, several seriously.

Two separate collisions occurred at nearly the same time and place on the northbound Orange Freeway, resulting in minor injuries.

And a woman driving the wrong way on the Riverside Freeway was stopped by officers and charged with driving under the influence.

“It was a pretty crazy night,” CHP spokeswoman Angel Johnson said. “It’s unusual to see that much in one night.”

Combine hot weather, alcohol and the beginning of summer and you get, for most young people, the start of the party season. You also get the ingredients in a recipe for traffic nightmares, the stuff of driver’s education films.

The night of auto carnage began on a dry, clear road in rural Orange County late Saturday night.

CHP officials said two men were killed, and two adults and two children injured, in a high-speed traffic accident on Oso Parkway near Solano.

Jason S. Davis, 26, of Newport Beach was speeding in a 1992 Chevrolet Corvette east on Oso Parkway around 10:30 p.m. when he “slid sideways across the lanes” directly into the path of a westbound 1996 Toyota Corolla.

Davis and his passenger, Alan D. Rosa, 26, of San Juan Capistrano, were killed instantly, police said.

The driver of the Corolla, Carolyn Scanlan, 19, of Trabuco Canyon, was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana with major injuries and was reported in serious condition Sunday.

The other passengers in Scanlan’s car, Lisa Anaya, 19, of Mission Viejo and two unidentified Mission Viejo males, ages 14 and 15, were taken to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center and treated for minor injuries.

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The second accident took the life of Monica Aguirre, 20, of Orange. She was a passenger in the back seat of a green 1992 Honda Accord that careened into the guardrail on the southbound Santa Ana Freeway around 4:30 a.m. Sunday, closing the highway for nearly five hours.

Aguirre and five female friends were returning from a night of dancing and partying in Los Angeles, officers said, when the driver, Sandra Espinoza, 22, of Orange, apparently lost control of her speeding car and hit the rail just north of Chapman Avenue.

Espinoza suffered minor injuries to an arm and an abrasion on her leg. She was in custody Sunday on suspicion of felony driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter.

Four other passengers in the car were also injured. Gloria Galvan of Orange, whose age was not released, was in critical condition at UCI Medical Center with serious injuries to her lungs, abdomen and kidneys.

Magnolia M. Moreno, 23, of Riverside suffered a fractured pelvis and broken left arm. She was in serious condition at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana.

Jeanette M. Castillo, 23, of San Diego had a pelvic fracture and broken femur. She was in critical condition at UCI Medical Center.

Finally, Marina Aguirre, 23, of Santa Ana suffered minor injuries and was treated and released from Western Medical Center-Anaheim.

Only 45 minutes earlier, a woman driving the wrong way on the Riverside Freeway was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, Johnson said.

The woman, whose name was not released, was stopped heading west in the eastbound lanes. She was in custody Sunday.

“Unfortunately, the bars are located near the freeways, so people go straight from the bars right onto the freeway to go home,” Johnson said. “We got the one girl [the wrong-way driver].”

Details were scant regarding the two minor collisions that occurred about 11:40 a.m. on the Orange Freeway near Orangethorpe Avenue.