Suspect Had 3 Drunk-Driving Convictions

A man who was allegedly intoxicated during a weekend car crash that killed two youngsters and injured a third had three previous drunk-driving convictions and had failed to complete a court-ordered rehabilitation program, court records show.

Fernando Quezada Perez, 27, of Santa Ana was arrested Saturday after his car collided with a car driven by 14-year-old Sonia Ruiz and he allegedly attempted to flee the scene, Santa Ana Police Sgt. Bob Clark said Monday.

Police said the underage driver was taking a friend, Elina Quiroga, 14, and her 4-year-old brother, Ruben, for a short ride around the block about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, when she apparently failed to stop at a stop sign at Flower Street and Wilshire Avenue and collided with the car driven by Perez.

Ruiz and Ruben Quiroga died of their injuries. Elina Quiroga suffered minor injuries.

Perez was booked at the city jail on suspicion of murder, drunk driving and hit-and-run, Clark said. His blood alcohol level at the time of the crash was not available Monday. A passenger in his car was not cited.

According to the state Department of Motor Vehicles, Perez was convicted of drunk driving in Ventura in 1990, and twice more in Santa Ana, in 1993 and 1995. In the Santa Ana offenses, court records show, his blood alcohol level was .25 and .23 respectively. The legal blood alcohol limit is currently .08.

Perez pleaded guilty to both Santa Ana charges. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail for the first offense and 130 days for the second, court records show. Information was not available Monday on how much time he served.

Perez’s license also was revoked until 1998, and he was ordered to complete a 15-month county alcohol treatment program, court records show.

After Perez violated probation by missing seven rehabilitation classes, a judge in December 1995 ordered him to complete the rehab program or serve 120 days in jail, court records show.

Police said Perez and his passenger had been drinking Saturday--while Perez was still enrolled in the rehabilitation program--and Perez got behind the wheel to go buy more beer.

Investigators said Perez was heading south in a Cadillac when he collided with the 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass carrying the three youngsters.

“The Cutlass was eastbound on Wilshire, and it appears the girl failed to stop at the posted stop sign, when the Cadillac, heading south on Flower, hit her,” Clark said.

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Ruiz, the driver of the Cutlass, died at the scene, and Ruben Quiroga, who was seated in the center of the back seat, died about five hours later at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, police said. His sister, Elina, was seated in the front passenger seat and sustained minor cuts and bruises.

None of the injured youngsters was wearing a seat belt, Clark said.

The Quiroga and Ruiz families live next door to each other, and the two girls had been close friends since kindergarten, said Kristine Quiroga, mother of Elina and Ruben Quiroga.

“Sonia [Ruiz] was like my daughter. My son was like her brother,” she said. “In my mind, I lost a son and a daughter.”

On Saturday, the children were preparing to go to church when a teenage visitor arrived at Ruiz’s house. Clark said the visitor was Ruiz’s cousin, who drove the Cutlass from Garden Grove.

“The cousin acquiesced that the girl could drive the car,” Clark said.

But Kristine Quiroga said no one realized the three had taken off in the car.

“They were in the front yard, getting ready to go to church,” she said. “Less than five minutes later, a friend came by and they must have gotten in the car to take it around the block, hoping that we wouldn’t find out where they’d gone.

“Sonia had learned how to drive from her brother. It’s not something she had done before,” Kristine Quiroga said.

Noise from the collision just a few blocks from the victims’ homes startled neighbors, who chased Perez and his passenger, both of whom allegedly tried to run away.

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Resident Jesse Rivera, 56, said he immediately walked out his front door and saw a bleeding man trying to stagger away from the accident.

“It was really bad,” Rivera said. “I feel sorry for those kids.”

Danny Espinoza, 20, said he knew the victims and said the crash had shaken many of the neighbors.

“It’s devastating,” he said of the two deaths. “Sonia was about to turn 15. That’s an important year for girls. It’s when they have their quinceanera. That’s a big deal in Mexican culture.”

Kristine Quiroga said, “They were beautiful children. And they will never be forgotten.”

Perez is scheduled to be arraigned today in Municipal Court in Santa Ana.

Times staff writer Ken Ellingwood contributed to this report.