Head-On Crash During Joy Ride Kills 5, Hurts 2

Five people were killed and two injured, one critically, when a carload of teen-agers “out for a Christmas vacation joy ride” crossed over a double line and crashed into a car containing a couple and their small son near Apple Valley on Monday, authorities reported.

There was no immediate identification of the dead victims, all from the Apple Valley area.

A 5-year-old boy, Michael Sandoval, was in serious but stable condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

A man and woman believed to be the boy’s parents were killed.

A teen-age girl who was driving a 1988 Chevrolet was killed instantly, along with two other teen-agers, a male and a female, the California Highway Patrolsaid.

A male teen-ager was in critical condition at San Bernardino County Hospital.

Apple Valley Fire Capt. Gary Bush said “it appeared the teen-agers were just out celebrating on a Christmas vacation joy ride” when the Chevrolet drifted over and smashed into a Toyota. He said it took nearly two hours to extricate the victims from the wreckage.

“It was like a war zone,” Bush said of the scene.

The CHP said the accident occurred on a dip on Rock Springs Road in the dry Mojave River bed near Deep Creek Road, about 12 miles northeast of Cajon Pass.