3 Die, 9 Injured as Car Smashes Van Stopped on I-805

Three people were killed and nine others injured early Friday when a car swerved across four lanes on Interstate 805 at Miramar Road and crashed into a disabled van full of people on the right shoulder, authorities said.

Ventura Cazares and his son, Humberto, were standing at the front of the van, working on the engine, when a car driven by Juan Carrillo, 21, of National City, rear-ended the Dodge van at 12:17 a.m., California Highway Patrol Officer Phil Konstantin said.

The two men were pinned under the van and died at the scene, Konstantin said. Ventura Cazares was 55 and his son was 38, Both were from Mexicali. Maria Lopez-Mayo, 45, of Mexicali, was inside the van and also died.

Ten other people were in the van, five of them children. Beatrice Mayo, 11, and an 8-year-old boy also named Humberto Cazares were taken to Children’s Hospital. They were in fair condition Friday, a nursing supervisor said.

Six other passengers in the van had minor injuries, the nursing supervisor said.

Carrillo, who has moderate injuries, is in fair condition at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, the nursing supervisor said.

Carrillo, who was arrested on suspicion of felony manslaughter, may have fallen asleep at the wheel, Konstantin said.