Family Finds Body of Relative at Crash Scene

Attracted by ambulances that raced past their Haster Street apartment, an Anaheim family went to the scene of a four-car pileup early Sunday and discovered the body of a family member inside a mangled car, Garden Grove police said.

Cuong Phung, 25, was returning from work about 12:30 a.m. Sunday when she was struck by a drunk driving suspect who reportedly ran a red light in a pickup truck traveling 80 to 100 m.p.h., Garden Grove Police Lt. Ken Whitman said.

The impact flipped Miss Phung’s car and sent it hurtling through the air before it landed on another car in the crash at Chapman Avenue and Haster Street, Whitman said. Miss Phung was pronounced dead at the scene. Five other people were injured.

Joseph Robert Pinedo, 22, of Orange, who was driving the pickup, was taken to UCI Medical Center and was in stable condition with head and face injuries. He was booked into the jail ward on suspicion of felony drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter, police said.

Pinedo may have been arguing with a passenger prior to the collision, said Tai Phung, a brother of the victim, quoting police officers who were at the scene.

“Police told me they were fighting because he (Pinedo) was driving so fast,” Phung said.

Police Sunday could not immediately confirm whether there had been an argument.

Pinedo’s passenger, Bernabe Ruiz, 20, of Orange, was taken to the Medical Center of Garden Grove, where he was treated for head and facial cuts and released, police said.

Police blocked Chapman Avenue near Haster for about 10 1/2 hours, allowing traffic investigators to examine and photograph the scene. The street was reopened about 11 a.m.

The victim’s relatives went to the scene three blocks from their home after they had heard the sirens and had become worried when Miss Phung failed to come home by 1 a.m. Sunday, said Tai Phung, 27.

At first, Phung, who said he did not accompany others who viewed the scene, did not believe the tragic news.

“Then I got a call from the coroner’s office. I’m so, so unhappy,” he said as tears welled in his eyes. “I still don’t believe that it happened.”

Phung shares the apartment with three brothers, another sister besides Cuong Phung, and his mother.

His mother, Tieu Phung, was too grief-stricken to be interviewed.

“All she can do is cry. She keeps crying and crying,” her son said.

Tai Phung’s father remains in a government re-education camp in rural Vietnam. As the eldest of the children, Tai Phung, a machinist, had worked for five years to earn enough money to help bring his mother and sister Cuong Phung to the United States last year.

“It was my goal, my dream,” he said, as he fought back tears.

Also injured in the accident were Khaed Shankal, 25, of Fountain Valley, who was treated and released at the Medical Center of Garden Grove, police said.

Shankal’s car was struck broadside by Pinedo’s truck before the truck hit Miss Phung’s car, Whitman said.

The fourth car in the crash was driven by Kathleen Stubaus, 61, of Anaheim. She was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana for treatment of internal injuries and was in good condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Stubaus’ daughter, Lora Ludolph, 27, also of Anaheim, was taken to Western Medical Center, where she was listed in serious condition with head injuries, police said.

Tai Phung said his sister was returning from her job with an Irvine electronics manufacturing company. He said she often worked seven days a week, and loved this country. “She found a job real easy and she had told friends she didn’t have to worry about anything at all,” Phung said.