A Night Out in New Car Ends in Death

Luis Torres spent most of Saturday polishing his newly acquired BMW, ready to hit the streets with his friends. But the night of movies and hamburgers with friends ended tragically when the 19-year-old lost control of the car early Sunday as he and three other youths headed home.

The white 1995 325-I, which investigators said was going about 80 mph, spun out of control in the 2600 block of South Raitt Street in Santa Ana and slammed into a tree, trapping Torres inside. His three passengers escaped through the sunroof but could not pull Torres free before the car exploded in flames. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

His passengers were his brother Michael, 17, stepbrother Iban, 24, and friend Roger Alarcon, 18. Michael Torres said Sunday that the car’s air bags never deployed and that he tried desperately to pull his brother, moaning and bleeding, from the wreckage but was unsuccessful.

He said he didn’t know why his brother suddenly started driving fast but thinks he may have been testing how fast the car could go.

“We were, like, ‘Slow down, we’re going to hit the dip,’ but he didn’t say anything,” Michael said. “Everything just happened so fast.”

Autopsy results Sunday indicated that Torres died of a fractured skull and neck.

Sgt. Raul Luna of the Santa Ana Police Department said investigators do not think alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash but are continuing to investigate the accident.

Friends following in another car said they were driving fast but not racing.

“We don’t know if they were showing off for each other,” Luna said. “If there is any indication there was a drag race, other people may be criminally liable.”

Grieving relatives and friends gathered Sunday at the family’s home a few blocks from the crash site. Maricela Torres tearfully remembered her oldest son, a recent graduate of Valley High School, as “a model, a good example to his brother. He wanted to be a policeman. His father was very proud of him. He was a very good son.”

Torres, a winning wrestler for his high school, was studying criminal justice at Santa Ana College.

Friends had nicknamed him “Dopey” because of his sense of humor and prominent ears. On Sunday, half a dozen votive candles burned at the scene of the crash, and a rosary hung from the scarred tree.