Underage DUI crash on 5 Freeway in Santa Fe Springs leaves 2 dead: CHP

SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif. - Two people were killed following a crash involving a 19-year-old man suspected of driving under the influence on the 5 Freeway in Santa Fe Springs early Tuesday morning, authorities said. 

Officials with the California Highway Patrol said just after 1:30 a.m., the driver of a Honda Accord drifted into a semi-truck that was stopped on the shoulder of the southbound lanes of the freeway near the Carmenita Road exit for unknown reasons.

When CHP officers arrived, they discovered three people inside the Accord. The two passengers were declared dead at the scene and the man in the driver’s seat was alert and conscious. 

One of the victims has been identified as 20-year-old Lance Paul Erskine of Fountain Valley. The second victim has not been named by authorities. 

The driver was taken to a local hospital and was arrested for DUI.

It appears the driver of the semi-truck was not at the scene at the time of the crash. 

Traffic was down to one lane for hours before all lanes reopened.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.