3-Vehicle Smashup = 3 1/2-Hour Jam in Irvine

Richard Laver’s pickup truck was idling Tuesday at a red light in Irvine as his mind wandered to thoughts of his school projects. Hard-rock music blared from the tape deck.

“Suddenly, my window shattered and I heard the bending of metal and the guy in the Porsche screamed. It was a deep yell,” he recalled. “Everything went slow motion from that point.”

Laver was caught in the middle of a spectacular accident that injured two drivers, one seriously, and brought morning rush-hour traffic to a halt on Culver Road, one of central Orange County’s busiest thoroughfares. It took another 3 1/2 hours before traffic returned to normal, Irvine police said.

“I looked over and saw the Porsche rolling on my car. By that time, I was in the passenger seat. This sounds bad, but I was lucky I did not wear my seat belt because I would have been pinned under the Porsche.”

The 19-year-old graphic arts student from Santa Ana said he escaped through the passenger door of his small, imported pickup and ran to the highway median as traffic came to a standstill at Culver and Irvine Center drives. He said he stared in disbelief at the wreckage--so awed that he had walked away with only scratches and so pumped up from adrenaline that he fainted.

“I looked back and saw the extent of the accident and passed out. . . . My legs went weak, my mind went blank and I hit the ground,” he said.

What Laver saw was an old Ford pickup

atop the rolled over Porsche, which rested against his truck. One onlooker would later describe it as kind of a “Porsche sandwich.”

Irvine police said the driver of the old pickup, Thomas A. Rodriguez, 59, of Santa Ana, lost control of his vehicle while driving east on Irvine Center Drive. He veered off the roadway, barely missing two traffic signal poles and slammed into the Porsche and Laver’s pickup, which were stopped side-by-side waiting for the light to change in the northbound lanes of Culver Drive.

Laver said the driver of the Porsche, later identified as Dennis Bruce, 38, of Santa Ana, lay against the roof of his overturned car as gasoline poured from the vehicles. His legs were sticking out the passenger side window. Complaining of stomach pain, Bruce managed to unfasten his seat belt while other motorists, including one toting a fire extinguisher, frantically tried to get him out.

Police, fire engines and a helicopter ambulance arrived. Bruce was firmly wedged in his car, however, and firefighters struggled to remove the man from the wreckage of the vehicle. More than a mile of Culver Road was closed, and only a single lane of northbound traffic was allowed on Irvine Center Road until about noon, when tow-truck crews hauled away the mangled vehicles and officers ended their on-site investigation.

“It couldn’t have happened at a worse time,” Irvine Police Sgt. Jim Lowder said.

Both Bruce and Rodriguez were rushed to United Western Medical Center-Santa Ana.

Bruce had his spleen removed, and was in stable condition Tuesday night, according to a hospital spokeswoman. Rodriguez, who suffered cuts and was admitted for observation, also was in stable condition, she said.

Traffic officers said Rodriguez was not cited pending further investigation. They speculated that he might have mistaken the gas pedal for the brake or fallen asleep at the wheel.

Laver said that other than cuts, glass nicks and a sore neck, he was fine.

“I walked out of it and that’s what scared me so bad: I walked out of that collision. I looked at myself and said . . . I am so lucky.”