Fatal Street Racing Crash, Driver In Jail, Cops Say

ANAHEIM, CA — An alleged street race on Ball Road turned Deadly, Saturday, according to Anaheim Police. An 18-year-old man who may have been street racing while drunk was in jail Monday, accused of killing an Anaheim man as the victim arrived home from his restaurant job to meet his pregnant wife and young child.

Jorge Esteban Lunas Martinez of Anaheim was checked out at a hospital and then arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, felony drunken driving and being an unlicensed driver. His bail has been set at $100,000, said Anaheim police Sgt. Daron Wyatt.

Firefighters and police were dispatched at 3:15 a.m. Sunday to Ball Road and Loara Street, where a Toyota Camry, Nissan Maxima and Nissan Versa were found demolished.

Martinez was speeding westbound on Ball Street when he lost control of the Nissan, which hit a Toyota Camry as the driver turned into the driveway of an apartment complex, Wyatt said.

Tarek Hamed, the 34-year-old driver of the Toyota, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Orange County coroner's office.

"His pregnant wife was at home with couple's young child," Wyatt said.

Hamed immigrated from Egypt about a year ago, his friend Mohamad Abdelshafi told the Orange County Register. He was at Hamed's apartment complex supporting the family.

"He was a very kind man, very thoughtful, a hard worker," Abdelshafi told the newspaper. Hamed worked until early every morning at Cairo Restaurant and Cafe in Anaheim to support his family and his sick mother in Egypt.

Hamed's young daughter "knows something horrible happened," he said." She's not crying, not making reaction. She doesn't want to eat, play."

A 17-year-old girl was a passenger in the speeding Nissan Maxima, and she was hospitalized with stable vital signs, he said.

"An investigation revealed Hamed was turning into this driveway at the time of the collision,' the Versa was parked at the time of the crash, Wyatt said.

City News Service contributed to this report.

Renee Schiavone, Photo