Witness says driver lost control racing car; open beer cans found in wreckage
By Kristina Davis
and J. Harry Jones
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS

May 31, 2007


JOHN GASTALDO / Union-Tribune
Perris High School students reacted yesterday after three of their classmates were killed in an accident on Interstate 15.
ESCONDIDO – A senior class trip to the beach took a tragic turn yesterday when three students from Perris High School in Riverside County were killed and another critically injured in a high-speed crash involving alcohol, authorities said.

The carload of teenage boys was following a caravan of school buses to Belmont Park in Mission Beach when the 1993 Acura Integra flipped and struck a tree.

The accident occurred at 2 p.m. on southbound Interstate 15 at the on-ramp to state Route 78 in Escondido, the California Highway Patrol said.

Two boys were ejected from the wreckage and two others died inside the crushed sedan. The lone survivor, 18, was flown to Palomar Medical Center in critical condition. Two who died were 17 and one was 18.

Update

The Medical Examiner's office has identified the three Perris High School students killed in Wednesday's crash on Interstate 15 as:

* Pablo Ruiz, 18.
* Javier Aguayo, 17.
* Anthony O'Neil, 17.

“This is a pretty horrendous crash. This didn't have to happen,” CHP Officer Tom Kerns said. “High speed was involved and they were drinking. That's a bad combination.”

One witness told officers that the Integra driver lost control while racing another car, possibly a newer black Acura with tinted windows, black rims and a modified exhaust pipe, Kerns said.

The Acura, which was last seen driving south on Interstate 15, had old damage to the right rear.

It didn't appear the two cars collided during the race.

Open cans of beer were found in and around the wreckage. The teens had one large case of beer and a 12-pack with them, Kerns said.

The senior class is just days away from graduation, which is scheduled for Saturday in Lake Elsinore.

“This is breaking our hearts,” said Jonathan Greenberg, superintendent for Perris Union High School District.

About a dozen other classmates, mostly boys, who were following in two cars came upon the wreckage shortly after the crash. They were interviewed by CHP officers at the scene.

Permission slips were required for the beach field trip, and everyone who was authorized to go was supposed to go by bus, said district spokeswoman Leslie Ventuleth.

The students were not supposed to be driving their own vehicles.

“This is a horrible tragedy at every level of the school community,” Ventuleth said. “We're devastated.”

Word of the deaths spread quickly among the students who were still headed to the beach on the school buses, Greenberg said.

The caravan was asked to return to the school in Riverside County upon hearing the news.

“Kids are just heartbroken,” Greenberg said.