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Ten people were hurt in a four-vehicle highway accident near Lompoc. (Photo: Santa Barbara County Fire Department)

Highway crash: Ten people were injured Tuesday in a four-vehicle pileup that started when a drunk driver crossed into oncoming traffic and crashed into an oncoming pickup truck on Highway 246 between Lompoc and Buellton.

•   An 18-year-old unlicensed driver was intoxicated when he drove home from an Indian casino.

•   The teen veered in to oncoming traffic on Highway 246 and crashed into a pickup truck. Another vehicle hit the teen’s car and also struck a pedestrian who was directing traffic. 

•   Ten people were treated at the scene and then hospitalized with injuries. 

•   The teen will be charged with felony DUI, failure to maintain lane position, and driving without a license. 

Officers responded to the accident shortly after 6 a.m., according to reports in in the Lompoc Record and the Santa Barbara Noozhawk.

California Highway Patrol Officer John Ortega said 18-year-old Gerardo Torres Jr. of Lompoc was driving a Honda Civic westbound on Highway 246 when he crossed over into the eastbound lane near Tularosa Road.

The Honda crashed into an oncoming Toyota Tacoma pickup truck driven by 37-year-old Romualdo Jacinto of Lompoc. The impact caused the pickup truck to flip over and land on its roof. Jacinto suffered moderate injuries and was taken to Cottage Hospital. Two of his four passengers also were injured.

The Honda was knocked back into the westbound lanes, where it came to rest.  Moments later, an approaching Lincoln Town Car crashed into the Honda. Torres, who was coming from the Chumash Casino Resort and was intoxicated, sustained a broken femur, Ortega said.

The Lincoln also struck 60-year-old Buellton resident Thomas Meade, who was directing traffic and giving assistance to victims. Meade suffered major injuries and was hospitalized at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara. He was expected to survive.

Ortega said 18-year-old Julio Damacio and 22-year-old Juan Lopez of Lompoc suffered moderate injuries in the accident. Gerardo Lopez, 16, and Angel Mendoza, 23, also of Lompoc, suffered minor injuries.

All of the victims were treated at the scene and then taken to hospitals or further evaluation and treatment.

When Torres is released from the hospital, he will face charges of felony DUI, failure to maintain lane position and being an unlicensed driver.

Lompoc Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented drunk driving accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A teen driver was speeding when he caused a head-on collision on a mountain highway in Lake Arrowhead. (Photo: Mountain News)

An Alhambra man was hospitalized Sunday after a teen driver who was speeding too fast to negotiate a curve veered into oncoming traffic and caused a head-on collision on Highway 18 in Lake Arrowhead.

 •   A 17-year-old was driving a Pontiac Firebird at high speed and could not negotiate a long curve on a mountain highway.

•  The Firebird veered into oncoming traffic and broadsided a Nissan Altima. The Altima driver was ejected from his car.

•   The Altima driver was airlifted to a hospital with major injuries.

The mountain highway crash occurred at 11:45 a.m., according to a report in the Mountain News.

California Highway Patrol officer Benjamin Baker said a 17-year-old driver from Crestline was traveling southbound on Highway 18 (Upper Waterman Canyon Road)  at a high rate of speed when he lost control of his 1996 Pontiac Firebird.

The teen, whose identity was withheld by the newspaper because he is a minor, was unable to negotiate a long, sweeping curve near Pohl Ranch Road, Baker said. The Firebird veered across the two-foot-wide center median into the northbound lane, where it slammed into the driver’s side of an oncoming silver 2002 Nissan Altima.

The impact caused both vehicles to spin out of control.

As the Altima careened across both northbound lanes, its damaged left front door flew open and the driver — 43-year-old Robert Luis Muñoz of Alhambra — was ejected from the vehicle. The Altima finally came to rest on the east shoulder.

Meanwhile, the Firebird also spun across the highway and crashed into a metal guardrail just beyond the east shoulder, according to  CHP investigator Andrew Myers.

Muñoz suffered major injuries, including extensive abrasions on his right side and head, Baker said.  He was airlifted via helicopter to Loma Linda University Medical Center, where he was hospitalized for treatment.

Baker said Muñoz’s 14-year-old male passenger was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident and was not injured. He accompanied Muñoz to the hospital.

The teen driver of the Firebird and his 28-year-old passenger, Jose Emmanuel Yon Song, sustained minor injuries but neither was taken to a hospital, Myers said.

The CHP did not make any arrests and had not yet issued any citations as of Tuesday morning. The accident is still being investigated.

Lake Arrowhead Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.