Women Killed, 5 Others Hurt in Desert Crash

A 23-year-old Santa Ana woman was killed and four other Santa Ana residents seriously injured when a pickup truck overturned in the first major incident of the Easter Week break in Palm Springs, police said Monday.

Sylvia Munoz Flores was dead at the scene after a truck in which she was riding struck a concrete wall at 6:34 p.m. Sunday while traveling at high speed, Palm Springs Police Lt. John Clem said.

The truck flipped end over end four times before coming to rest under a stop sign in a residential area about 4 miles from downtown Palm Springs.

Witnesses told police the pickup truck failed to stop at two stop signs and had passed another car when it appeared to “over-correct after passing,” went over the curb and struck the wall, Clem said. No arrests or citations were issued, but the incident remains under investigation, he said.

“In the debris of the crash there is an indication some alcohol was present, but we do not know if that was a factor,” Clem said.

The driver, Eric Leonard Jones, 23, of Palm Desert, and four Santa Ana residents--Linda Vargas, 24; Carlos Cano, 23; Ruben Melendrez, 24, and Molly Carrillo, 21--were listed in serious to critical condition in Desert Hospital in Palm Springs, Clem said.

The annual spring break draws thousands of college-age adults to Palm Springs.