2 Killed in Crash; Deputy Arrests 3 Who Flee Scene

Two people were killed and eight injured in a spectacular six-vehicle pileup on the eastbound Pomona Freeway near Diamond Bar early Saturday.

Two of the drivers and a passenger fled the scene and were caught by an off-duty sheriff’s deputy who chased them through his neighborhood, officers said.

Manuel Saldana Deleon, 33, driver of a semi-trailer rig involved in the crash, was booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run, and possession of narcotics paraphernalia, while Alejandro Martinez, 21, was booked on suspicion of felony driving under the influence of narcotics and driving without a license. Deleon, who also had an outstanding traffic warrant, was held in lieu of $8,000 bail, while Martinez was held in lieu of $2,500 bail.

The accident occurred about 9 a.m. east of Brea Canyon Road when a car went out of control and flipped over.

As traffic slowed, investigators said, a semi-tractor trailer swerved across three lanes of traffic and slammed into four cars before hitting the center divider and turning over on its right side, dumping its cargo of apples onto the roadway and blocking three lanes.

The driver and passenger of the first car crawled from their vehicle, jumped a fence and fled into a Diamond Bar housing tract next to the freeway, followed shortly by the truck driver, investigators said.

Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Mike Brooks, who was off duty and asleep in his house, heard the crash and looked outside while his wife called paramedics. Brooks saw his neighbors rushing toward the freeway carrying ice and blankets to aid the injured.

“I noticed two guys coming down the slope and over the fence. One guy fell on his back, and the other helped him up and then they started running and hobbling down the street. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize they weren’t lookie loos,” Brooks said. “I threw on my clothes and just like a dog chasing a car, I took out after them.”

Brooks found them in a nearby cul de sac. One appeared to have a broken leg. He ordered them into the back seat of his car and returned them to the neighborhood. A friend told him another suspicious man had run by. The deputy headed out again and apprehended the truck driver running down a nearby street.

“You spend all week chasing people and on your day off you don’t expect it on your doorstep,” Brooks, a 13-year veteran, said.

Meanwhile, six tow trucks, an air ambulance helicopter and a special CHP accident investigation unit arrived to unscramble wreckage and take victims to hospitals.

Names of victims were not immediately released.

One 13-year-old girl who suffered a head injury was reported in critical but stable condition at Queen of the Valley Hospital. Two more accident victims died of their injuries, one at San Dimas Hospital and the other at Queen of the Valley, and seven others were released after hospital treatment.

Cause of the accident is still being investigated.