Traffic Accidents Claim 5 Lives in Orange County

Five people died Wednesday in four traffic accidents within about 90 minutes on Orange County highways, including a man struck twice after he tried to secure a Christmas tree on his car hood, authorities said.

Clark R. Danielson, 24, of Lake Elsinore was hit by a truck, then a car, when he stopped in the far right lane of Interstate 5 in San Juan Capistrano to tie down a Christmas tree atop his car at about 2 a.m. He died at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Mission Community Hospital in Mission Viejo.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Ken Daily said Danielson stopped in southbound lanes just north of the Junipero Serra exit when the truck hit him, pushing both car and truck off the freeway, Daily said.

The truck driver, who was not injured, told investigators he was climbing back to the freeway and saw Danielson hit again, by a compact car. Investigators say they don’t think the driver knew he had hit someone.

In Laguna Niguel, two people died when their car was cut in half in a high-speed accident at 1:15 a.m., Highway Patrolman Larry Kleasner said.

James Steven Hutchings, 18, and Steve Franco, 19, both of Mission Viejo, were eastbound on Crown Valley Parkway, near Alicia Parkway, at speeds estimated at 70 to 80 m.p.h. when their car struck a center divider, spun sideways and slammed broadside into a tree.

Kleasner said Franco was thrown from the car. According to investigators, there were open alcoholic beverage containers in the car.

In Anaheim, Zacarias Yanez Jr., 28, of Orange died shortly before 12:30 a.m. in a head-on collision that injured four other people.

Police said Yanez and another man, who was not immediately identified, were driving east on Frontera Street, near Armando Street, when they veered into oncoming traffic and collided with a car driven by Elaine K. Wimbler, 23, of Placentia.

The passenger in Yanez’s car was transported by helicopter to UCI Medical Center. Wimbler was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where she was in good condition. Two men who were riding with Wimbler, Robert E. Fox, 28, of Anaheim and Roy E. Vosburgh, 36, of Orange, were treated for minor injuries and released.

At 1:05 a.m., a Costa Mesa man was killed when his car left the Garden Grove Freeway and overturned. Kleasner said George M. Tomlin, 29, of Costa Mesa was eastbound on the freeway near Valley View Street when his car went out of control in the slow lane, veered across the road and plunged down the embankment, landing upside-down in a drain ditch. Tomlin, who was alone in the car, died at the scene.