A 22-year-old driver has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a solo-vehicle rollover crash killed a passenger and injured another person during a street takeover in Costa Mesa on Thursday, police said.
Around 2:25 a.m., dispatchers began receiving calls regarding a pickup truck that had overturned in the intersection of Hyland and Sunflower avenues, according to a Costa Mesa Police Department news release.
The calls came in around the same time that the Anaheim Police Department alerted Costa Mesa police to about 80 to 100 vehicles involved in a previous street takeover that were possibly heading to their city.
By the time the crash was reported, about 50 to 100 vehicles had taken over the intersection of Hyland and Sunflower. Spectators were present at the time of the crash, and several bystanders rushed in and “rolled the truck to the side where a passenger was found unconscious,” the release stated.
A 23-year-old passenger in the truck, identified as Sergio Marroquin Jr., died at the scene after officers performed CPR in an attempt to revive him.
A female passenger was also injured in the crash and taken to a nearby hospital in unknown condition. She is expected to survive, according to the Police Department.
Authorities determined the fatal crash occurred as the driver was doing donuts in the intersection, the release stated.
The driver, identified as 22-year-old Mynor Augusto Esquivelvalle of Los Angeles, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder, according to police. He is the cousin of the man killed in the crash, officials said.
Three spectators — a female and two males — were also arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting. Their names have not been released.
The crash was related to the street takeover, which involved dozens of vehicles that migrated to the area after a similar gathering near the Anaheim Plaza Marketplace broke up shortly after midnight, investigators said.
Cellphone video of the Anaheim incident showed a car doing spinouts in the street and then striking a bystander.
The female victim was sent flying into the air but a witness said she was still conscious after the crash.
“She’s conscious, she’s talking. She knows who she is,” witness Mateo Cuebas said.
The extent of her injuries are unknown.
Anyone with information or video from these incidents is asked to call Costa Mesa police at 714-754-5264.
Authorities said they have seen an increase in these types of street takeovers since the pandemic hit.