Chain-Reaction Car Crash Kills 2 Men, Injures 3 Near Disneyland : Accident: A suspected drunk driver who survived the collision was driving with a probationary license as a result of a 1988 DUI conviction, police say.

Two men were killed and three others injured in a four-car crash early Friday when a suspected drunk driver plowed into a line of automobiles stopped at a red light near Disneyland.

Rafael Marquez Calderon, 27, of Anaheim, who has a probationary license from a 1988 drunk-driving offense, was under arrest in the jail ward at Western Medical Center-Anaheim on charges of manslaughter and driving under the influence, police said. Calderon was listed in serious condition with head and chest injuries.

“He is expected to survive,” said Sgt. Ron Lovejoy. “That’s good for us. You can’t prosecute a dead man.”

Killed were James Edwin McDonald, 36, of Richardson, Tex., who was on a business trip, and Armando Saso, 19, of Anaheim, Calderon’s roommate and a dishwasher at the Anaheim Marriott hotel.

Lovejoy said the 1:46 a.m. accident occurred at Harbor Boulevard and the Santa Ana Freeway off-ramp, where three northbound cars were stopped at a traffic signal. Calderon, who was driving a 1982 Datsun Maxima station wagon north on Harbor, slammed into the vehicles at more than 60 m.p.h.

“He came barreling up over the hill, and by that time he saw what was going on, it was much too late,” Lovejoy said.

Calderon hit his brakes, leaving a 120-foot-long skid mark, and rammed into the rear of a 1991 Buick Regal driven by McDonald. The collision caused a chain reaction, and McDonald’s rented Buick was shoved into a 1983 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer driven by Damion Lane, 17, of Fullerton. The Blazer then skidded sideways into a late-model Ford Mustang idling in the slow lane.

Lane and the driver of the Mustang, Lynn Descoteaux, 23, of Placentia, were not hurt, Lovejoy said.

McDonald was taken to Western Medical Center-Anaheim, where he was pronounced dead. His injuries reportedly included a broken neck. Lovejoy said McDonald arrived in California on Thursday on a business trip and was returning to his hotel after visiting his uncle in Los Angeles when the accident occurred.

Saso was pronounced dead at the scene after he hit the dashboard of Calderon’s car and suffered massive facial and internal injuries, authorities said.

Two other passengers in Calderon’s vehicle were injured and admitted to UCI Medical Center in Orange, said Fran Tardiff, a hospital spokeswoman. They are Marcus Villegas, 27, and Rudolfo Martinez, 25, both of Anaheim.

Both were listed in good condition, with facial cuts and other minor injuries, Tardiff said. They are to be released today.

Miguel Estrada, a friend of Calderon and Saso, said he last saw the pair about 6 p.m. Thursday after they both got off work. Calderon is a maintenance man at the Mallul Drive apartment complex where Estrada lives.

“I knew (Calderon) had some trouble before with the police about drinking and driving,” Estrada said. “But after that, he seemed not to drink as much.”

Meanwhile, Saso’s uncle, Juan Hernandez, mourned his nephew’s death, saying that Saso stayed out of trouble since the two immigrated from Mexico together about three years ago. Hernandez said the teen-ager’s family is in Mexico and has not yet been notified.

“He didn’t get into trouble much and he was working hard to live in this country,” Hernandez said.

Friday’s accident is part of an increase in drunk-driving incidents over the past two years, despite more police checkpoints and an ambitious public relations campaign. California Highway Patrol Officer Angel Johnson said it is not known why the increase has occurred, but noted that the trend has reversed several years of improvement.

Many of those arrested for drunk driving end up repeating the crime, CHP officials said. For instance, Calderon was arrested in October, 1988, on a drunk-driving charge. He was convicted a month later, lost his license for 90 days, and put on probation for three years.

Times staff writer Allison Samuels contributed to this report.