A family of five was killed in a horrific red light crash in Lodi. (Photo: Sara Jane Pohlman | Lodi News-Sentinel)
Fatal red light crash: A family of five was killed Tuesday evening when their truck was smashed by a speeding SUV that that ran a red light at a busy intersection in Lodi.
• A driver speeding at 80 mph on city streets — and talking on a cell phone — ran a red light and crashed into a pickup truck that was stopped at an intersection.
• The impact caused a chain reaction crash involving as many as six vehicles.
• A family of six people were in the pickup truck. Five of them were killed .
UPDATE: Lodi police on Saturday named 28-year-old Ryan Christopher Morales as the “suspect who caused the fatal collision,” according to an updated report in the Sacramento Bee. Morales, who remains hospitalized in critical condition, was released from prison last month and does not have a driver’s license. Police said he had been drinking heavily shortly before the accident.
The red light crash occurred at South Ham Lane and West Vine Street at approximately 5:21 p.m., according to a KXTL News report.
Eyewitness Jamie McDonald, of Lodi, told the Lodi News-Sentinel that a man in a gold GMC Yukon was speeding down Ham Lane at about 80 mph and talking on a cell phone right before the accident.
“He was flying,” McDonald said.
The Yukon blew through a red light and slammed into a Ford F-150 pickup truck that was stopped for the light. The impact caused a chain-reaction crash involving two trucks, two sport utility vehicles and a minivan.
A family of six from Mexico was inside the truck, according to the Sacramento Bee. Five of them were killed in the horrific red light crash. The Mexican consulate in Sacramento identified the victims as 32-year-old Luis Miranda, 31-year-old Viviana Rodriguez (Miranda’s pregnant wife), and three of their children (12-year-old Irving, 6-year-old Jose and 5-year-old Stephanie).
The sole survivor in the family was their son 9-year-old Eden, who was hospitalized with catastrophic injuries. He was listed in critical but stable condition.
A passenger in one of the other vehicles involved in the red light crash died in the hospital. That victim’s identity was not released.
At least three other people were undergoing surgery late Tuesday night, but the extent of their injuries was unknown, Eric Bradley, a spokesman for the Lodi Police Department, told the Stockton Record.
The driver of the Yukon also sustained major injuries. He was among those who were hospitalized.
Mayor Alan Nakanishi said the accident was “the worst thing that’s happened to Lodi this year. ”
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