Gunshot victim dies after crash
A man who had been shot several times rammed his out-of-control pickup truck into the median at a Santa Ana intersection before dawn Tuesday and later died at a hospital, authorities said.
A Santa Ana police motorcycle officer heading south on Harbor Boulevard at 11th Street about 4:25 a.m. saw a blue Ford pickup with its lights off travel slowly west on 11th Street into the intersection.
The driver, identified as Francisco Javier Marroqin Soto, 41, of Santa Ana, crashed into the Harbor Boulevard median, said Cpl. Jose Gonzalez, a Santa Ana police spokesman.
At first, the officer suspected that Soto might have been intoxicated, Gonzalez said. Upon closer inspection, the officer discovered that Soto had multiple gunshot wounds in the upper torso.
Authorities could not say whether Soto had been shot while driving, but reported that the pickup’s rear window appeared to be shattered. Soto was taken to a hospital, where he died about 5:50 a.m.
Investigators discovered evidence indicating that the shooting might have occurred in the 3700 block of West 11th Street, several hundred feet from where the pickup struck the median. Police established a crime scene there, but Gonzalez would not say what evidence was found, adding that Soto did not live in the area.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Santa Ana Police Department’s homicide unit at (714) 245-8390.
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