Crash on I-5 in Mission Viejo takes family's three kids (Jorge Miguel Romero)

The Orange County Register ^ | May 4, 2007 | KIMBERLY EDDS

[TheDon]

Lori Coble beamed as she posed for the camera with her husband and their three small children. Katie was still a baby, perched on Lori's hip. Kyle and Emma – in matching white shirts, jeans and flip-flops – grinned as they crowded on their dad Chris' lap.

"Kyle, Katie and Emma – the crazy monkeys" as the Ladera Ranch family's Web site proclaimed. The kids grew up so fast.

The dream was abruptly shattered about 1:10 p.m. Friday when a big-rig slammed into the back of the family's 2006 Chrysler Town & Country minivan on the southbound Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway north of Oso Parkway.

The three Coble kids were in the back of the minivan, strapped into car seats and booster seats. Lori was driving. Grandmother Cynthia Maestri was in the front passenger seat.

Two-year-old Katie and 5-year-old Kyle were rushed to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo. Katie died just before 2 p.m. Four-year-old Emma died minutes later at Saddleback Memorial Hospital in Laguna Hills, California Highway Patrol officer Katrina Lundgren said.

....

CHP investigators spent hours questioning the driver, Jorge Miguel Romero, 37, of Apple Valley, who said he saw the traffic backed up, applied the brakes but couldn't stop in time.

Fontana-based leasing company Aurora TRL, which owns the truck, did not return calls for comment.

[Fundamentally Fair]

Thanks for the summary of my postings. I stand by them all. Is there one in particular that you’d like to counter?

[machogirl]

i think that i’ll leave you with your next to last post, as profound as it is

Bwahahahaah!

[Fundamentally Fair]

So you are buying the 21 percent is 1 in 4 argument?

[machogirl]

i have an engineering degree, i know what 1 in 4 is, 21% is only 4% off, for technical stuff that 4% would kill, but for the sake of general discussion, it’s about equal to the error in most polls

[Texas4ever]

Could we just have a post for prayer?

Somehow all this bitterness, mixed with these three angels
just doesnt seem right.

Prayers and strength for the family.

[petitfour]

You don’t live in the Southwest?

[JacksonCalhoun]

Prayers for the angels. I have a little one whose well-being I constantly think of, especially on the road.

[Fundamentally Fair]

i have an engineering degree, i know what 1 in 4 is, 21% is only 4% off, for technical stuff that 4% would kill, but for the sake of general discussion, it’s about equal to the error in most pollsNow you've really lost credibility. Go back and and look at the logic trail that the 1 in 4 claim came from.

You will either defend it, or you are an engineer.

[Toddsterpatriot]

i have an engineering degree,

What kind?

[The Right Stuff]

ping for prayer for this family

[The Right Stuff]

prayer ping

[machogirl]

the one that has no credibility and has turned this thread into a bitter one is “fundamentally unfair”

as far as this thread, i have to eek out a living, and time better spent that be a sitting duck for someone who has nothing better to do than insult posters

[machogirl]

chemical

[Fundamentally Fair]

as far as this thread, i have to eek out a living, and time better spent that be a sitting duck for someone who has nothing better to do than insult posters

Translation: I can't counter anything you've said, so I will run off.

Good evening.

[ktscarlett66]

Why do you assume that? If the name was John Smith, would they say “John Smith, legal US resident”? How do you know he isn’t a third generation American? I have NEVER seen a news article that named a legal or illegal status on every single person who caused an accident or committed a crime. I have a friend whose last name is Garcia, first name *very* Hispanic. His family has been here for over a century.

[SoCal Pubbie]

I disagree most strenuously that this section of Freeway is among the worst in Southern California. The worst freeways statistically are the 710 and I believe the 110 in LA County. Tons of money has been spent in Orange County widening the freeways, unlike in LA County where the money has gone to public transportation.

The accident occurred on the 5 South, I believe right before the Oso offramp. This is just a few miles from where I live and the next offramp, Crown Valley, is the where the Shops at Mission Viejo is located. My wife used to work there a few years ago.

This section of freeway is wide, clear, and mostly straight. The only problem is the traffic that backs up to get off for the retail areas right off the freeway. This accident can ONLY be attributed to the driver’s inattention, as it is reported the minivan was stopped and he was going 65 and couldn't stop in time. Seems like no brainer here, and a case of gross vehicular negligence.

[John D]

With the PC media I guarantee that with Jorge for a first name if he were legal the media would have said so. Just like with robberies. If the criminal is a minority there will be no mention of that, but if he or she is white it is all over the place. Or if a politician is accused of something you know it is a democrat if there is no mention of party because if it is a Republican it will be stated in every paragraph of the article.

[SoCal Pubbie]

You’ve been pretty on target in most of your posts on this thread, so my hats off there, and I know you were using humor to illustrate the growing Hispanic population in the OC, but the most recent census reprts only about 31% of residents identify themselves as Hispanic. Even factoring in illegals there are still far more “whites” than any other ethnicity here.

[Toddsterpatriot]

I was originally a chem e, back in the day.

[machogirl]

don’t think so, i have 4 children to take care of , rescue animals, and i have to eek out a living as a single parent, not as much time as you to sit and pick on posters for entertainment