Oxnard Man Among Those Killed in Crash

An 18-year-old Oxnard High School graduate who had plans of going to college and studying engineering was among three people killed over the weekend in a car crash in Camarillo, authorities said Sunday.

Carlos Medrano of Oxnard was pronounced dead at the scene of the single-car crash on Mission Oaks Boulevard at Hillcrest Drive that occurred about 7:25 p.m. Saturday. Also killed were Eneck Vaillant, 29, of Inglewood and Devinn Taylor, 26, of Long Beach, the Ventura County medical examiner’s office said.

All three were sitting in the back seat of the late-model Honda sedan involved in the crash, and none was wearing a seat belt, authorities said.

The car struck a light pole at such a high speed that the vehicle split in two, the front end coming to rest 150 feet away from the rear, Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Chuck Buttell said.

Authorities are not sure who was driving the car and the cause of the accident is still under investigation.

Carlos Medrano, who had graduated from Oxnard High a few months ago, was the second of six children of Gabino and Juana Medrano of Oxnard.

“My brother was a pretty cool guy,” said Medrano’s sister, Sandra, 16. “He always played sports, and he loved soccer.”

Medrano was working as a video processor at Technicolor Video Services in Camarillo, Sandra said. When he wasn’t working, Medrano liked hanging out with friends. “They went to the movies or to play pool, and they played soccer,” she said.

She said her brother was planning to attend Oxnard College in January and eventually transfer to UC Santa Barbara.

The Ventura County Fire Department extricated two people from the front of the car. Both were taken to local hospitals.

The Sheriff’s Department identified the injured as Robert Dimas, 21, of Oxnard and Greg Gambao, 19, residence unknown. On Sunday, Dimas was in critical but stable condition in the intensive care unit at Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Gambao was reported in serious condition in the intensive care unit at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard.