4 Men Killed in Wrong-Way Freeway Crash

Four friends reportedly out for a late-night birthday bash were killed early Thursday after the driver, apparently intoxicated, drove onto the wrong side of the Santa Ana Freeway and slammed head-on into an oncoming pickup truck, the California Highway Patrol reported.

David E. Palmer, 24, of Mission Viejo, the driver of the pickup, recovering in a hospital, said he thought, “This is it, it’s all over,” when he saw the headlights of the car speeding toward him. He escaped serious injury.

After the collision with the pickup, the wrong-way car was rear-ended by a big-rig truck that was unable to swerve away from the wreckage, CHP Officer Angel Johnson said. The truck fled the scene.

Opened beer bottles were found in the car with the four dead victims, and authorities blamed the accident on drinking. It will likely be several weeks, however, before blood-alcohol tests are back from the Orange County coroner’s office.

The accident took place at 2:15 a.m. The driver of the car, identified as Miguel Germain of Anaheim, had turned 27 the day before and was apparently celebrating the birthday with his three friends, Johnson said.

The names of his dead companions, whose ages ranged from 26 to 31 and who all lived in Anaheim, were being withheld pending notification of relatives, Johnson said.

The accident closed the southbound side of Interstate 5 at the State College Boulevard overpass for 6 1/2 hours--well into the morning commute--until the CHP completed its probe and emergency crews cleared the roadway.

“They had to practically cut the car in half to get the bodies out,” Johnson said. “They were kind of welded into the car.”

It was not immediately known just how long the car had been driving north on the southbound side of the freeway, but Johnson said it could have traveled at least one mile before colliding with the pickup truck in the southbound fast lane.

After hitting the pickup, the car spun out of control and came to rest facing south, Johnson said. A few seconds later, the big-rig truck slammed into it.

Coroner’s investigators said they believe that the four men were killed almost instantly in the first collision and were dead by the time the big-rig struck, Johnson said.

Palmer was listed in stable condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange, hospital spokeswoman Fran Tardiff said.