Orange : Teen-age Driver Crashes Through Home; 10-Year-Old Girl Had Just Left Room

Family members escaped injury Sunday morning when a late-model BMW carrying two teen-age boys crashed through their house near Orange, authorities said. A 10-year-old girl had left her bedroom moments before it was demolished.

The two teen-age boys, who were not identified, were seriously hurt in the 10:20 a.m. crash in the 20000 block of East Chapman Avenue, California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Lindquist said.

The car was traveling west on Chapman Avenue “at a very high rate of speed, and for unknown reasons (the driver) lost control of the vehicle,” Lindquist said.

The car hit a telephone pole and a stop sign at the corner near the house, crashed through a chain-link fence, then slammed sideways into the corner of the house, Lindquist said. He added that there was no evidence of drugs or alcohol.

Cesar Covarrubias, 17, said his sisters Nancy and Brenda had spent the morning in their bedroom, cleaning and watching television. He said Brenda had left the room moments before the crash.

“I heard screeching. I went to look out the window and saw the car hit the house. I heard Brenda screaming. Nancy was already in the kitchen. I ran to their room and saw that Brenda was in the bathroom and not hurt,” he said.

Covarrubias’ parents, Jose and Celia, and another brother, Eduardo, 15, were also in the house. No family member was injured.

Jose Covarrubias, a landscaper, said he immediately thought of his 10-year-old daughter, Brenda, when the crash occurred.

“She had been in her room only a second before,” he said. “I had been planning on putting up a brick fence to keep things out, but I never expected this.”

Cesar Covarrubias said his sisters’ bedroom was destroyed and there was heavy damage to the home.

“It’s like the house was moved. The structure was moved a little. We can’t open the front door and there are big cracks all over,” he said.

He said the two occupants of the car were unconscious when paramedics arrived. One was airlifted and the other taken by ambulance to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

Lindquist said both boys were listed in serious condition. Because they are juveniles, he said, no charges would be filed at this time.