Police Pursuit Ends in Fatal O.C. Crash

Two sisters, one of them three months pregnant, were killed instantly Tuesday when a stolen car pursued by Cypress police ran a red light and slammed into their vehicle broadside.

Authorities identified the victims as Lizett Quinonez, a 22-year-old Anaheim nurse’s aide, and Claudia Quinonez, a 16-year-old resident of Guadalajara, Mexico, who was visiting her sister.

“It was gruesome,” said nearby resident Ali Barakat, who went outside after hearing the crash and the wail of sirens. “These are the days we’d like to see people rejoicing rather than suffering.”

The force of the crash sent both cars careening 150 feet from the intersection of Orange and Knott avenues, flattening the sisters’ 1980 Honda Civic. The stolen car was going 80 mph when it struck the Honda, Anaheim Police Lt. John Haradon said.

Police arrested the three occupants of the other car, one of whom died Tuesday afternoon at UCI Medical Center in Orange, where all three were hospitalized. The driver, 18-year-old Oscar Rodriguez of Buena Park, faces charges of vehicular manslaughter and evading arrest.

Family members and friends gathered at Lizett Quinonez’s small Anaheim apartment to grieve their loss.

“They didn’t deserve to die,” said her fiance, Mario Zavala, 26. “I am in shock. I just can’t believe it. I was just with her last night. . . . I am thinking of the good times we had. She was so sweet and lovable. She always had a smile on her face.”

Relatives said the sisters were returning from a fast-food restaurant when their car was struck. Their parents, who live in Guadalajara, were devastated when they heard the news, said cousin Marco Gonzalez of Oxnard.

“They are in really bad shape, especially being so far away . . . and this being Christmas,” Gonzalez said.

Relatives and friends were not the only ones touched by the tragedy. As word of the Christmas Eve accident spread, a steady procession of visitors left flowers, candles and personal notes at the crash site.

“I have a 15-year-old daughter, and she wants to drive. I don’t want her to drive after this,” said Yvonne Furrow, a 47-year-old Anaheim resident who visited the makeshift memorial.

High-speed police pursuits have come under increased scrutiny in recent years. Anaheim officers said their early investigation uncovered no evidence that Tuesday’s chase was mishandled.

“I don’t see any problems with the pursuit,” said Lt. Haradon, noting that the chase lasted less than a minute and covered only three-quarters of a mile. “In my opinion, the officer did a very good job in that limited time and under the circumstances.”

Cypress police immediately launched an examination of the crash to determine whether the officer complied with the department’s policies and procedures. Sgt. Ed Bish said such investigations are routine after pursuits.

The chase began about 2:15 a.m. when an officer spotted a white 1990 Ford Escort “driving erratically” on Orange Avenue, Haradon said. Police said the car had been stolen hours earlier.

The officer, whose name was not released, activated his lights and directed the driver to stop. The driver hesitated at first but finally yielded near the corner of Orange and Valley View Street, Haradon said.

When the officer stepped out of his patrol car and approached the Escort, the driver sped off. The officer returned to his car and began the pursuit, Haradon said.

A few seconds into the chase, one of the passengers tossed a loaded handgun out of the car near the intersection of Orange and Holder Street, Haradon said.

The Escort then ran a red light and barreled into the Knott Avenue intersection at 2:20 a.m., colliding with the Honda Civic driven by Lizett Quinonez.

“The suspect’s car slammed right into the [Honda’s] driver-side door,” Haradon said. “The cars were totaled.”

Both women died instantly, Haradon said.

Rodriguez and an unidentified 17-year-old girl were able to climb out of the Escort, and police immediately arrested them, according to witnesses. They were taken to UCI Medical Center.

The third occupant, 14-year-old Abraham Camarena of Cerritos, was lifted from the car on a stretcher, witnesses said. He died later at the hospital.

*

Witnesses said officers wrestled the driver to the ground when he refused to raise his hands. Police then tried to communicate with the two women in the demolished Honda before determining that they were dead.

“Are you OK? Can you move? Can you try and open your door?” resident Charles Gipson recalled police saying on a megaphone.

Police said Tuesday night they were still trying to determine whether the suspects were under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and what connection the loaded handgun has to the case.

“We are looking into any criminal activities they may have been involved in,” Haradon said. “We don’t know what they did. But the handgun makes us suspicious, so we are looking into it.”

Investigators said they also plan to conduct vehicle skid-mark tests to determine exactly how fast the cars were traveling.

Because the chase was over so quickly, there was no time for backup units or a police helicopter to aid in the pursuit, Haradon said. If the chase had lasted longer, a helicopter could have followed the suspects’ car and allowed police on the ground to fall back, he said.

At Lizett Quinonez’s home, the shock of the tragedy gave way to grief as friends comforted each other in the living room and family members sobbed in a bedroom.

Zavala said of his fiancee, “I love her. It hurts a lot. She was going to have our kid. We were planning to be married. . . . I wish I wasn’t here either. I wish I was with her.”

The mood was equally somber at the site of the crash.

Jackie Chappelear, a 51-year-old Buena Park resident, placed a handmade cloth rose at the shrine. “It hurts,” she said. “I feel for the family.”

An unsigned note next to some candles and flowers read: “May God bless you. My heart goes out to you. Be strong. Keep God in your heart. We care.”

Nine-year-old Jennifer Lewis, who lives near the scene and heard the crash, said she plans to leave a flower at the memorial.

“I didn’t want the girls to die,” she said, “but they did.”

Also contributing to this report were Times staff writers Tracy Weber, Geoff Boucher, Anna Cekola and Lee Romney, and correspondents Jeff Kass, John Canalis and Mimi Ko Cruz.