2 Dead, 1 in a Coma After Car Runs Through Red Light

Two adults were dead and three others remained hospitalized after a 21-year-old Orange man sped through a red light and plowed into a vehicle at Ward Street and Slater Avenue, police said.

Authorities said they arrested Scott A. Whitson, 21, on suspicion of two counts of murder. His 1992 Volkswagen Cabriolet struck a 1986 Acura Legend driven by Janice C. Diehm, 46, of Fountain Valley.

Whitson remains in custody at the intensive care unit of the UCI Medical Center, where he is in stable condition with a fractured hip, multiple cuts and cardiac irregularities. He may have survived because the car’s air bag deployed on impact, police said.

Diehm was pronounced dead at the scene, as was Derick S. Romo, 26, of Moreno Valley. Romo was the front passenger in Whitson’s Volkswagen, police said.

Zacharia L. Antolin, 21, of Orange, a passenger in the back seat of Whitson’s vehicle, was in critical condition Saturday in the intensive care unit at UCI Medical Center. He suffered head injuries, police said.

Royell Richards, 21, of Fountain Valley, was in intensive care at Fountain Valley Community Hospital, where she is in a coma from head injuries, according to police. Richards was the front-seat passenger in Diehm’s car.

Police said the incident occurred Friday at 10:53 p.m. when the Volkswagen driven north on Ward Street by Whitson went through the intersection at Slater Avenue against a red light.

“It hasn’t been determined yet whether alcohol or drugs played a role” in the collision, said Fountain Valley Police Sgt. Keith Levin. Tests results from blood samples haven’t come in yet, he said.

Levin said investigators aren’t sure yet whether any of the people involved in the collision were wearing seat belts.

Authorities said Whitson’s vehicle had no license plates, but that it was not stolen. They were unsure who owns it.