Driver in Irvine Crash that Killed 5 Teens Identified

Originally posted at 12:42 a.m. Oct. 6, 2014. Edited to correct a CNS reporting error.

A 16-year-old driver who was injured in a fiery crash in Irvine that killed five of his teenaged passengers was hospitalized today in serious but stable condition after undergoing brain surgery.

• Read about the candlelight vigil at Capistrano Valley High School here.

He was identified, in a statement from CHOC Children’s at Mission Hospital, as Bradley Morales.

“Following neurosurgery, (Morales) was placed in the hospital’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. He is recovering from a large skull fracture and an epidural hematoma (collection of blood outside the brain),” according to the statement, which said the boy was in serious but stable condition and that his family does not wish to release additional information at this time.

According to the California Highway Patrol, a check of records has not yielded evidence that the boy was licensed.

The crash happened on the southbound side of the freeway south of the Route 133 toll road at about 2:12 a.m. on Saturday when the white 1995 BMW Morales was driving flew off the Santa Ana (5) Freeway and caught fire, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The Orange County coroner’s office has file numbers for the teens but has not identified them. The files note that each of them was a passenger in a solo out-of control vehicle and note “positive identification pending dental comparison.”

Morales reportedly told rescuers that the group had been returning from a late-night trip to Knott’s Berry Farm.

CHP Officer Florentino Olivera said no record of the boy having a license was found after his parents supplied his name and date of birth.

California law prohibits drivers younger than 18 from driving between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. or carrying passengers younger than 20 for the first 12 months they are licensed unless the driver is accompanied by a parent or guardian or other person specified by law.

News reports identified the deceased boys as Alex Sotelo and Matthew Melo, both ninth graders at Capistrano Valley High School, and Brandon Moreno, an eighth grader at Carl Hankey Middle School. The girls were identified in news reports as Jenny Campos of Aliso Viejo and Jennifer Bahena, who were both on the water polo team at Laguna Hills High School. Both Capistrano Valley High School and Hankey Middle School are in Mission Viejo.

Two of the boys, one from Mission Viejo and one from San Juan Capistrano, were 14 and the other was a 15-year-old from Mission Viejo, according to the CHP. No ages were given for the girls.

A vigil was held at Capistrano Valley High School tonight for the boys. A vigil was held Saturday night at Laguna Hills High School for the girls.

The BMW was southbound on the freeway when it drifted off the roadway, its front end striking a metal guardrail, the CHP reported.

“Due to the speed, the vehicle continued in a southerly direction up an overcrossing embankment and came to rest on the top of a concrete retaining wall,” according to a CHP news release. The car and its five passengers then became engulfed in fire, according to the CHP, which reported that the driver was found outside the vehicle.

Video from the scene showed the burned car atop the retaining wall. A crane was used to lift it from its blackened perch.

Two of the deceased girls and one of the boys were not wearing safety restraints, according to a CHP news release. It was unclear whether the driver used a seat belt.

--City News Service

PHOTO Courtesy Orange County Fire Authority

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