2 Teens Killed When Vehicle Slams Into Truck

Two Costa Mesa teens were killed and four other people were hurt early Saturday when their car crashed into a 5-ton Caltrans repair truck on the Santa Ana Freeway.

Javier Torres, 18, of Santa Ana was driving a 1991 Mercury Tracer south in the fast lane about 1:55 a.m., California Highway Patrol Officer Richard Perez said.

At the junction of the Long Beach Freeway, the right lane was closed, Perez said, and for an unexplained reason, Torres slammed on the brakes. The car careened across the freeway and hit the right guardrail, Perez said.

The car bounced off the rail and crashed into the truck, which was parked on the right shoulder, Perez said.

Two back-seat passengers died at the scene: Alexander Mojica, 16, and Geremie Austin, 18, both of Costa Mesa.

Two other back-seat passengers, Shafik Naccache, 29, and Edgar Evans, 17, both of Costa Mesa, suffered major injuries, Perez said, as did the front-seat passenger, Mark Naccache, 18, of Costa Mesa. All three were taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

Torres was taken to Santa Marta Hospital in Los Angeles with moderate injuries.

None of the back-seat passengers was wearing a seat belt, Perez said, but those in the front seat were.

No Caltrans workers were injured. They were performing seismic retrofit work on a bridge.