2 Students Riding in Trunk Die After Crash

Two 15-year-old Glendora High School students died after they were thrown from the trunk of a car and hit by an oncoming van, police said Thursday.

Christopher David Snyder and Scott Achinson were in the locked trunk of a Mazda Protege driven by an unlicensed 17-year-old boy when the teenager lost control of the car, spun out and hit a tree in the median of Route 66 near Compromise Line Road in Glendora about 3 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

The boys were riding in the trunk because the driver already had four passengers in the car when he offered them a ride, police said.

Snyder and Achinson were airlifted to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles with severe injuries. Achinson died about 4:30 p.m. and Snyder about three hours later, police said.

The other passengers and the driver suffered minor injuries, police said.

The driver had not been arrested and police were investigating whether speed played a part in the accident.

“Our investigation is continuing and we’ll make a determination soon as to whether or not the 17-year-old will be arrested,” said Lt. Robert Lamborghini of the Glendora Police Department.

The driver consented to a blood test and “there are no indications of any problems of sobriety,” said Glendora Police Lt. Gino Domico. The driver could face charges of vehicular manslaughter if there is a determination of gross negligence, he said.

The driver of the van was not injured or cited.

“He was not at fault in any way,” Lamborghini said.