Crash Kills Teen, Woman; Injured Driver Is Arrested

A 38-year-old woman and a 13-year-old girl believed to be her baby sitter were killed early Sunday when their car was rear-ended and burst into flames on Coast Highway in South Laguna, authorities said.

The driver of the sports car that hit them was identified as Richard H. Wallinger, 25, of South Laguna. He was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and driving under the influence of a controlled substance, California Highway Patrol officers said.

CHP Acting Sgt. Jim Feick said officers searching Wallinger’s car after the crash found bindles of cocaine--”wrapped for apparent sale”--and $1,400.

Spokesmen for the CHP and Orange County coroner’s office said the victims, both of whom lived in Laguna Niguel, were trapped in the car. Their bodies were badly burned, and investigators were hoping to make positive identification today using dental records.

“It’s really a sad case,” said Deputy Coroner Richard Slaughter, who believes the woman may have been taking the baby sitter home.

The two had been northbound in a Ford Thunderbird on the Coast Highway, near Niguel Road at 1:55 a.m., when the car was hit from behind by Wallinger’s Nissan 300ZX, CHP Officer Jose Lopez said. He said the Nissan was traveling at “a high rate of speed.”

The Nissan slid under the rear of the Thunderbird, and the impact lifted the rear bumper of the Thunderbird and flipped it upside down. When the Thunderbird landed on its top facing eastbound on the coastal highway, Feick said, “it burst into flames.”

Because of the accident and subsequent investigation, the Coast Highway was closed and traffic rerouted on Ritz Carlton Drive until 7 a.m., Feick said.

Wallinger suffered what Lopez described as moderate injuries and was listed in fair condition Sunday afternoon at Mission Community Hospital in Mission Viejo.

From beside his hospital bed Sunday afternoon, Wallinger’s mother said that she knew her son had been arrested but that she knew nothing of the charges.

“He had no recollection of the crash at all,” Lynn Wallinger said of her son, an unemployed car salesman who suffered a head injury in the crash. “I haven’t talked to the police. They haven’t been able to talk to him either, because he was in intensive care until just awhile ago. . . . He’s going to make it, though.”

Feick said Wallinger will be transferred to UCI Medical Center today for booking into the hospital’s jail ward.