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Drag-Racing Crash Kills Teen-Ager

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

One teen-ager was killed and another critically injured when they were thrown from an allegedly stolen car during a drag race early Saturday morning, bringing to five the number of young men who have died during car races in Orange County in less than a month.

Francisco Noya Gutierrez, 17, was pronounced dead of massive head injuries at UCI Medical Center in Orange after emergency efforts to revive him failed. His passenger, Martin Soperanez, 19, was airlifted to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo and was listed in critical condition Saturday. Police said they were not sure which of the teen-agers, both of whom lived in Orange, had been driving the car.

The accident comes on the heels of a similar drag-racing tragedy that left four dead in Santa Ana a few days before Thanksgiving. Police in both cities, however, said they considered the accidents unrelated and did not see them as part of a trend. Drag racing, once a popular test of manhood among wayward teen-agers, is becoming a thing of the past, a Santa Ana police spokesman said.

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“The days of muscle cars are over,” Santa Ana Sgt. John Dittus said. “When you think of drag-racing, you think of fast cars. . . . Those days are gone.”

In the latest drag-racing accident, Gutierrez and Soperanez were thrown from a 1983 Nissan Stanza as it careened out of control, hit the curb and flipped over, according to police. The two young men had apparently been racing two other cars--a 1970 red Chevy Camaro and 1985 red Nissan 200-SX--as they sped down Collins Avenue toward Batavia Street, an intersection surrounded by warehouses, light industry and low-income housing.

Police said the Stanza had been stolen in Orange earlier in the evening from outside the house of a friend of the teen-agers. The other two cars were seen by witnesses but were gone when the police arrived, Lt. Trey Sirks said. Police are looking for the other drivers but have no suspects. “It’s not a problem as far as Orange is concerned,” Sirks said of drag-racing in general. “It’s been quite a while since I can remember anything like this happening. . . . I would not say it’s on the increase.”

Three weeks ago in Santa Ana four men were killed when their car crashed and burst into flames during a drag race. Benito Gambino, 19, had been driving an old Ford Maverick that belonged to his brother when he decided to race another car down Bristol Street, according to police accounts. Killed along with Gambino were his cousin, Pedro Carrasco Martinez, 23; Sergio Padilla Orejel, 24; and Antonio Pulido Arteaga, 25. All four men lived in Santa Ana.

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