Man Dies After Incident at Garden Grove ATM

A Garden Grove man critically injured in a car crash triggered by a confrontation at an ATM died Monday evening, officials said.

Javier Adame, 24, died about 5:30 p.m. at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana from head and internal injuries he suffered Sunday when Jonathan Chacon, 19, rammed his car into Adame’s SUV, hurling it into a light pole, authorities said.

Chacon was chasing the SUV after yelling at Adame’s wife, Claudia Torres, 25, at the ATM in Garden Grove, police said.

Chacon, an Orange landscaper who has been cited 10 times in three years for various driving violations, is expected to be charged with murder, police said. He has been held since Sunday at Orange County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and violating probation.

The incident began while Torres and Chacon were in line at an ATM at a Washington Mutual branch at Harbor and Garden Grove boulevards about 9 p.m. Sunday, police said.

“The machine didn’t work. He couldn’t get money from it and he yelled at her and took it out on her,” said Garden Grove Police Lt. Mike Handfield.

Adame, Torres and their 2-year-old daughter left in their Ford Explorer, but Chacon chased and cursed at them, police said. Near Garden Grove Boulevard and Newhope Street, Chacon rammed the SUV, spinning it into a pole, which toppled onto the vehicle, police said.

It took firefighters about 45 minutes to saw the car apart and extricate Adame with the Jaws of Life. The mother and daughter were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

Chacon, who fled on foot, was arrested by an officer arriving at the scene.

“He was the aggressor all the way through,” Handfield said.

Chacon, who has been arrested on suspicion of drug offenses three times in the last two months, was on probation for a drug possession conviction, police said.

DMV records show that Chacon has a history of driving violations. In January, he was cited for speeding in unsafe weather. He was cited in 2004 for failure to wear a seat belt, no license plates, no proof of insurance, driving in the wrong lanes and not stopping at a crosswalk.

In 2003, he was cited for making an unsafe lane change, failure to stop at a crosswalk, carrying a heavy load and running a stop sign.

He is scheduled to be arraigned today in Westminster.