Crash Ties Up Traffic on Ortega Highway

The driver of a cement truck who was attempting to avoid a collision with a van and another cement truck crashed through a bridge railing on Ortega Highway just east of San Juan Capistrano Friday morning, blocking commuter traffic for at least two hours.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Ken Daily said the truck came to rest with its rear wheels in the bed of San Juan Creek. The driver, Guillermo Saavedra Lopez, 36, of Azusa escaped with a small cut on his forehead, the spokesman said.

Traffic on the highway, the only road from southern Orange County through the mountains to Riverside County, was backed up “for miles” during the rush hour, Daily said.

No one else was injured in the 7:35 a.m. accident.

Officer Jerry Graul, who investigated the accident, said a westbound van driven by Mark Wayne Tavaras, 27, of Rancho California apparently started to pass a cement truck going in the same direction that was driven by Marilyn Lenora Renter, 37, of Carson.

Both vehicles, Graul said, were nearing the bridge across San Juan Creek, about 2 1/2 miles east of Interstate 5. The truck driven by Lopez was approaching from the east.

Tavaras swung his van sharply in front of Renter’s truck, Graul’s report said, and the van was struck in the rear by Renter’s vehicle before sliding across the roadway into the path of Lopez’s truck. Graul said Lopez “locked his brakes” and skidded around, and the back of his vehicle crashed through the bridge’s concrete guardrail.

Lopez used a hammer to break the windshield and crawl to safety.

Daily said a recommendation that Tavaras be cited for unsafe passing is being filed with the district attorney’s office.