2nd Student Dies From Injuries in Accident Near School Crosswalk

A 12-year-old boy Wednesday became the second student in a month to die from injuries suffered when cars struck them near a crosswalk on a heavily traveled stretch of Taft Avenue next toVilla Park High School.

Orange County coroner’s officials said that Mitchell Soper, a student at Cerro Villa Junior High School in Villa Park, died shortly after 10 a.m. at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

He was struck by a car on Friday while riding his bicycle near the crosswalk, used by hundreds of students each day who attend the high school and three nearby junior high and elementary schools.

A 13-year-old Cerro Villa student was killed in mid-December while crossing the street near the same crosswalk. At least 10 other students have been injured in the same area over the past six years, according to parents and school officials who have long sought a traffic light or other control measure in front of the high school.

City officials have said their studies show that a traffic light or stop sign would not effectively deal with the problem, primarily because motorists might tend to run them. But they say they are willing to consider all options.

Villa Park and Orange parents have scheduled a meeting Friday night to discuss strategy and will be attending next Tuesday night’s City Council meeting “in full force” to demand a solution, according to Patricia Bortle, a Villa Park High School parent.

Parents also will be at the crosswalk next Tuesday morning and afternoon with signs to escort students across the street, Bortle said.

“We’re just tired of the excuses we’ve been getting,” she said.