Street Racing Claims Another Life

Another addition to the teen driver+speed file - something that certainly didn't have to happen:

MISSION VIEJO – An 18-year-old man was killed Friday after his car flipped several times, then slammed into a light pole and a tree during a street race with another car, police said.

Jose Merino Pacheco of Mission Viejo was pronounced dead at 11:48 p.m. on Friday night at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center, according to the Coroner.

The accident occurred about 10:37 p.m. at Olympiad Road near Jeronimo Road, but it was unknown which directions the cars were traveling or how fast they were going, said Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Hal Brotheim.

The 18-year-old Mission Viejo man had three passengers in a 2001 Volkswagon Jetta during the street race against a 17-year-old driver in a 2008 Scion TC, Brotheim said. That driver's name was not released because he's a minor.

One of the passengers suffered moderate injuries, and the other two were not injured at all.

Hopefully it wasn't a kid from Mission Viejo High.