3 Killed at Border Patrol Checkpoint : Immigration: Motorists injured, upset at freeway carnage, which in one night broke last year’s total.

Three pedestrians, all believed to be illegal immigrants, were struck and killed as they attempted to cross Interstate 5 under the cover of darkness, marking one of the deadliest nights at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint, authorities said Friday.

Only two pedestrian deaths occurred near the checkpoint last year, authorities said.

The fatalities appeared to have shattered confidence among officials with the Border Patrol and California Highway Patrol that such deaths were on the wane.

“That is a bad sign,” CHP Officer Jerry Bohrer said, noting that in just a few hours, this year’s death toll had exceeded last year’s by one.

“We’re not off to a good start,” he said.

The first death occurred about 7:45 p.m. Thursday when a man was struck by a tractor-trailer rig while bolting east across the freeway just north of the checkpoint.

Almost 10 hours later, about 5:15 a.m. Friday, a man and a woman were killed as they ran across the freeway in a group of about a dozen people just south of the checkpoint.

Border Patrol agents said they fear that the accidents may portend an increase in such fatalities, perhaps reaching higher than the record 15 deaths in 1990, as illegal immigrants from Mexico continue to make their way across the border in greater numbers.

“It would appear there are more people out there,” said Agent Steve Kean, a Border Patrol spokesman. “We are going to see somewhat of an increase in this sort of situation.”

In Friday morning’s accident, witnesses told authorities that about a dozen people were spotted standing in the freeway’s center divider, about half a mile south of the checkpoint.

David Croy Jr., 30, of Mission Viejo, said he and two passengers were driving south to Santee when he noticed northbound traffic backing up at the checkpoint.

“We just rolled on past, but I thought it was awfully busy for that time of day,” Croy said from his Mission Viejo home.

Suddenly, he said, he caught a glimpse of a group of people, some of whom were holding hands, in the pre-dawn darkness. Before he could react, the group dashed into traffic, directly in front of him.

“They were right at the end of my headlight beam,” Croy said. “They just broke for it.”

Croy said he frantically slammed on his brakes, locking them up and skidding into the group of pedestrians. Two of them were hit, he said.

One of the victims was sent sailing over Croy’s car, while the other hit the windshield, shattering the glass.

“There was nothing I could do,” Croy said. “I hit them straight on. Oh God, I knew I had hit them. . . . They were dead, no question.”

As Croy skidded to a stop, Petty Officer 2nd Class David Hilger, who was returning to his San Diego base from his girlfriend’s home in Dana Point, lost control of his motorcycle and plowed into the back of Croy’s car, he said.

The impact shattered the rear window, sending flying glass into the car and cutting the occupants, Croy said. Hilger landed in the road, his bike mangled.

Croy said he jumped out of the car and saw Hilger lying near the center divider. He first thought the 22-year-old sailor was dead. “He wasn’t moving,” Croy said.

Then, Croy said, he looked behind him and saw the two dead pedestrians.

“I didn’t get close to either of them,” he said. “I saw the closest one. He had no shoes on. He was bent up pretty bad.”

Croy and Hilger were taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center-San Clemente for treatment. Croy was later released. Hilger was admitted into the hospital with a crushed left foot.

The rest of the pedestrians fled into the darkness. Border Patrol agents, who arrived at the scene a few moments after the accident and assisted the CHP in partially closing the southbound side of the freeway, never found them, agents said.

The CHP’s Bohrer said authorities have not identified the two victims--a woman and a man--since neither carried identification. Both appeared to be in their mid-20s. The Mexican Consulate was called to help in identifying the bodies and contacting relatives, he said.

Bohrer said Thursday night’s accident occurred as a man identified as Camarino Avilez-Acosta, age unknown, was apparently trying to run east across the eight-lane freeway to join another person--possibly a smuggler--waiting on the other side.

But when Avilez-Acosta bolted into the southbound side of the highway, he was struck by a tractor-trailer rig driven by Roy Elliott, 34, of El Cajon. Avilez-Acosta was pronounced dead at the scene.

Neither Croy nor Elliott was cited in the accidents, although Bohrer added that the investigation was continuing and noted that Croy was traveling about 75 m.p.h. when the pedestrians were struck.

At Good Samaritan, Hilger and his girlfriend, 22-year-old Katherine Waychoff, expressed anger over the accident, saying it appeared not enough was being done to ensure motorists’ safety.

New signs and lights were recently installed in the wake of a Cal State Fullerton report, commissioned in late 1990, that called for a number of safety improvements at the checkpoint.

Despite the improvements, people are still dying on the freeway, the couple pointed out.

“This really makes me mad,” Waychoff said. “This just happens too often. I don’t think the danger is stressed enough.”

Croy, a retail broker who also suffered cuts to a hand and knee, agreed. He said he has heard tales of the disastrous attempts by illegal immigrants to cross the freeway, but never thought he would play a part in the grim statistics.

“It’s happening way to often down there. Something has to be done,” he said. “I don’t want anyone to go through this. I’m going through hell.”

Border Patrol officials said illegal border crossings are on the increase in the expansive San Diego sector, which encompasses all of San Diego County and parts of Riverside and Orange counties.

This fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, the INS has recorded more than 136,000 apprehensions of illegal immigrants in the sector. That is up 9%, from 124,000 the year before, Kean said.

At the San Onofre checkpoint, Kean said, 11,930 illegal immigrants have been apprehended this fiscal year. Although there are no figures immediately available to compare to the same period last year, Kean said it is likely that the San Onofre station has seen an increase similar to sector-wide arrests. There were 67,494 arrests made at the checkpoint last year.

Kean said Border Patrol officials were hard-pressed to theorize why there is an increase in the northerly migration, but added that there is no reason to believe it will slow in the near future.

“This (traffic deaths) is all an unfortunate consequence of all this immigration,” he said.

Kean added that the victims’ attempts to cross the freeway are consistent with a long-standing method by which smugglers attempt to get their clients past Border Patrol agents at the San Onofre checkpoint, about 3 miles south of San Clemente.

Typically, smugglers stop south of the checkpoint, drop off the migrants, then pass through the station. They then stop north of the station and wait for the migrants to catch up with them.

The illegal immigrants are forced to run across the freeway, first to the west, and then recross it to the east about a mile north of the checkpoint, Kean said.

“They (smugglers) are leading them (immigrants) across the freeway without regard to their safety or the grieving loved ones they leave behind,” Kean said. “It’s an unfortunate and sad tragedy.”