DUI Suspect Held in Crash That Injured 7

A suspected drunk driver was in jail Saturday after plowing his van into a busy Garden Grove intersection Friday night. The resulting chain-reaction collision injured seven people, including two children who were thrown from their vehicle.

Police said the accident occurred on Harbor Boulevard at 9:44 p.m. when a van driven by Jose J. Escobar, 30, failed to stop as it approached a line of cars stopping for a red light at Chapman Avenue.

Escobar’s vehicle struck a van that then hit the back of another vehicle, which was propelled into a fourth vehicle, Garden Grove Sgt. Paul D. McInerny said.

Escobar, who was not injured, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, a felony, police said.

Injured were three children and four adults, all taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange with serious injuries, police said.

Authorities identified only two of the adults: Adolfo and Rosa Cazares, both 27, of Santa Ana. The couple, whose van was struck by Escobar’s vehicle, were treated for cuts and bruises at the hospital and released.

Also hurt were three children in their van: 10-year-old daughter Tatiana, 6-year-old son Christian and 3-year-old nephew Diego Aguilar. All three were riding in a cargo area behind the last row of seats without seat belts.

Christian and Diego were thrown from the van after it was struck. They were being treated for head injuries and pain in their wrists on Saturday, Rosa Cazares said. The mother said the right side of her son’s face was badly scraped by the pavement.

Both children were found about 15 feet from where their van came to rest, she said.

The two boys were talking to relatives and seemed in good spirits.

Christian’s sister, Tatiana, however, was in obvious pain. She suffered a fractured collarbone, two broken fingers and possible internal injuries, her mother said.

Rosa Cazares reacted with tears to news that Escobar was suspected of drunk driving.

“I have a lot of anger” toward him, the young mother said. “Today we were supposed to go to Disneyland.”

Instead, about half a dozen relatives came to the hospital to visit the family.

The couple said they didn’t recall much of the accident. Adolfo Cazares said he was driving north on Harbor Boulevard at about 30 to 40 mph and was slowing for a red light at the intersection.

The next thing they knew, they got rammed from behind. “It was just so fast,” he said.

Times staff writer Richard Marosi contributed to this story.