Halloween Casualties: Major Accidents Kill Four Nearby

Three costumed 13-year-old girls out trick-or-treating for Halloween were struck and killed in a crosswalk in Santa Ana tonight by a speeding SUV whose driver fled the scene, police said.

Meanwhile, in an incident in Irvine, a 65-year-old man died and his 4-year-old male son was critically injured.

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The first crash occurred about 6:45 p.m. in the 1400 block of East Fairhaven Avenue, near the intersection with Jacaranda Street, said Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.

Two of the girls were twins, Capt. Steve Concialdi of the Orange County Fire Authority said.

The girls were struck by a Nissan Pathfinder that was traveling west on Fairhaven Avenue at a high rate of speed, police said.

Two of the teenagers were pronounced dead when firefighter-paramedics arrived and a third died while being prepared to be taken to a hospital, Concialdi said.

Investigators located the SUV abandoned north of the crash scene, but were seeking two males who were believed to have been inside the vehicle when the girls were struck, police said. Detailed descriptions of the suspects were not made available.

A news photographer at the scene said the SUV was found in a parking lot behind a Big Lots store at Fairhaven and Grand Avenue and KCAL9 aired helicopter video of a vehicle covered by a tarp in the lot.

At the second incident, a 65-year-old man died and his trick-or-treating 4-year-old son was critically injured when they were struck by a vehicle in Irvine, police said today.

It occurred at 7:10 p.m. Friday in the 100 block of West Yale Loop, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi said.

The adult, an Irvine resident, died at a hospital about 90 minutes later, Irvine Police Department Deputy Chief Mike Hamel said.

His son was wearing a Captain America costume, Concialdi said.

The female driver of the vehicle, a Mazda 3, stopped at the scene and was not facing charges, Hamel said.

--City News Service

PHOTO Patch file photo.

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