Funeral services for crash victims

During the past week, family members and friends gathered to mourn the young men who died in a car accident last weekend on Victoria Street in Costa Mesa.

Funeral masses for Juan A. Romero-Figueroa are scheduled at 10 a.m. today at St. Joachim church in Costa Mesa, Orange County coroners said. The services will begin with a rosary at 9:30 a.m.

Services for Julio Sandoval-Telles, were held Thursday at the Pierce Brothers Mortuary in Anaheim. No service information was available for Francisco Rodriguez, the third victim.

All three were passengers in a car driven by Jose Gustavo Castillo, of Costa Mesa, that crashed into a light pole after hitting another vehicle on June 1, Costa Mesa police said. Castillo was headed west on Victoria just before Canyon Drive when his Lincoln Town Car rear-ended a Chevy Malibu driven by Martha Albrecht, 55, a Huntington Beach resident.

Castillo’s vehicle was straddling two traffic lanes when he hit the other vehicle, Traffic Investigator Jeff Horn said. Castillo lost control and slid across the road into a light pole, police said. The impact of the collision ejected two passengers from the Town Car, police said.

Police arrested Castillo at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where he was being treated for critical injuries, on suspicion of driving under the influence and three counts of vehicular manslaughter, police said.

Castillo has since been released from the hospital and taken into custody by Orange County sheriffs, police said. He was booked at the Theo Lacy Facility of the Orange County Jail and is ineligible for bail, according to the jail’s website.

“That block seems fraught with accidents,” said Rick Patella, who lives in one of the neighborhoods near where the accident happened.

That was the first of two fatal accidents in the city over the weekend.

On Saturday night, Simon Alviar-Leyva, 41, of Costa Mesa, was crossing Adams Avenue just west of the crosswalk at Harbor Boulevard when a Nissan Altima driven by Michael Kelly, 27, of Costa Mesa, hit Alviar-Leyva and dragged him roughly 40 feet, Horn said.

Kelly allegedly sped off, followed by witnesses, police said.

That night, police found his vehicle in an apartment complex near Mesa Verde Drive East, police said. Soon after, officers found the suspect walking south on Harbor Boulevard. Kelly was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and taken to Costa Mesa City Jail. He posted bail and was released Sunday, police said.

A visitation of Alviar-Leyva is scheduled from 3 to 9 p.m. Monday at Funeraria Latina Familiar, 1201 N. Main St., Santa Ana. There will be no services following the viewing because Alviar-Leyva’s body will be sent to Mexico for burial. For more information, call (714) 953-9045.