5 Illegal Immigrants Hurt as Fleeing Van Tumbles Into Ravine

A van crammed with 17 illegal immigrants tumbled down a 144-foot ravine at Camp Pendleton on Sunday while trying to evade military police, demolishing the van and sending five passengers to the hospital, officials said Monday.

Marine and Border Patrol officials said immigrant smugglers often use the sprawling base that straddles Orange and San Diego counties to avoid detection at the Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 5 at San Clemente.

Base officials estimate that 10,000 immigrants a year are caught on the base by the Marines and the Border Patrol. There were no estimates of how many immigrants succeed in bypassing the San Clemente checkpoint by using the roads, brushy areas and beaches of Camp Pendleton.

About 11:30 p.m., military police spotted a van without a proper base decal driving north along Basilone Road, a main road leading from the Oceanside gate to the San Onofre gate. The driver of the van refused to pull over and a four-mile chase took place at speeds up to 65 m.p.h.

As the van got within 100 yards of I-5, the driver turned down a dirt and gravel road. The military police ended the pursuit and followed at only 15 m.p.h., officials said.

For reasons that are unclear, the driver of the van made a sharp right turn off the gravel road and the van tumbled end over end several times before hitting the bottom of a ravine east of the highway. Several passengers were thrown free but most were trapped inside.

“The fact (the immigrants) were packed in the van so tight kept them all from being injured,” said Jack Stubbs, spokesman for the San Clemente Fire Department, which assisted the Marine Corps in rescue efforts. “They were packed in like sardines and the bodies absorbed some of the shock.”

Eleven immigrants were turned over the Border Patrol for immediate deportation. A 12th surrendered to the Marines after wandering in a daze for several hours.

Of the five who were injured, the most seriously hurt man was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, where he was originally listed in critical condition. By Monday afternoon, Carlos Carrillo, 30, had been upgraded to fair condition, although he was still being kept in intensive care.

Lt. Col. Anthony Anthony, deputy provost marshal at Camp Pendleton, said it is unknown how the van got on base without authorization.

Ironically, a joint Marine-Border Patrol operation was held at midnight Sunday, with Marines and Border Patrol agents stopping suspicious vehicles and sending foot patrols into the brushy hills.

Anthony said the immigrant who surrendered after wandering in the brush told investigators that the driver of the van had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana.

Border Patrol spokesman Steve Kean said it could not be determined which of the immigrants was the smuggler.