LAGUNA BEACH : Speed Blamed for Fatal Head-On Crash

A fiery, two-car collision that killed one man last week and left two people critically injured probably occurred because one driver was speeding on a rain-slicked road, California Highway Patrol investigators said Monday.

Original reports from the site of the Friday accident on Coast Highway near Crystal Cove placed the blame on metal plates laid on the road to cover a gas line excavation.

Officials initially speculated that a truck driven by Innocencio Juan Ochoa of Santa Ana lost control after crossing the slippery metal sheets, spinning wildly into oncoming traffic. The truck ran headlong into a Chevrolet Suburban, causing the Suburban to explode into flames.

Ochoa, 30, died at the scene. A co-worker, Francisco Reyes, 22, and the driver of the Suburban, Sally Ann Stacey, 37, of Laguna Beach, were both listed in critical condition at area hospitals on Monday. One other passenger in the truck escaped with minor injuries.

Highway Patrol investigators said Monday that a witness told them the truck was not in the lane covered by metal plates when it veered over the center divider.

“We don’t believe that’s what happened now,” said Bruce Lian, a CHP spokesman. “It was probably excessive speed that caused the accident.”

Ochoa was driving at about 55 m.p.h. in an area posted at 50 m.p.h. when the collision occurred at about 7:50 a.m., Lian said. On a wet highway during rush hour, that speed could be considered hazardous, he said.

Meanwhile, Caltrans officials ordered the lane closed until the storm system predicted to hit the Southland Tuesday night passes through the area.

During a break in the inclement weather Monday, a contractor hired by the Southern California Gas Co. resurfaced a portion of the road that had been covered by the plates. Gas company officials said the work would be completed when weather allowed.

The construction job is part of a 2 1/2-mile-long gas line replacement project stretching from El Morro Elementary School near Crystal Cove to High Drive in Laguna Beach.

Ochoa, a landscaper for an Irvine firm, was driving with his brother, Ramon, 20, and Reyes from one job to another when the accident occurred. Ochoa had been employed at Olen Properties Corp. for about two months. Company officials remembered him as a quiet man and a good worker.

“He really hadn’t worked for us very long,” the company’s vice president, Dale Lyon, said. “But he seemed like a very nice man.”