5 dead after van smashes into car in Hesperia, authorities say

Five people were killed Sunday, May 11, in Hesperia when a van hit a Honda that was stopped at a stop sign, overturned and came to a rest upside-down on top of the Honda.

The crash was reported at 6:55 a.m. at Main Street and Balsam Avenue. The van was headed east on Main Street when, for an unknown reason, it drove into the westbound lanes and struck the Honda, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller said in a written statement.

A man and boy in the Honda were taken to area hospitals, where they died. A woman, another boy and a girl were trapped in the car and died at the scene.

Bernard Fitzsimons, who lives across the street from the crash scene, said his 25-year-old daughter held towels to the man’s head while they waited for paramedics to arrive.

The Accord’s driver and a boy who was also extricated from the car where taken to a hospital and pronounced dead a short time later.

More than six hours after the crash, while the van was being lifted off the Honda, another boy’s body was found.

“Due to the extreme structural damage, the victim was concealed and could not be accessed/seen by emergency personnel,” the sheriff’s statement said.

The names of the deceased have not been released and the driver of the van was not arrested, according to the sheriff’s statement.

The posted speed limit on that stretch of Main Street is 50 mph.

Since moving to the house on Main Street last fall, Fitzsimons said he routinely hears screeching tires and horns honking, sometimes behind him when he slows before turning into his driveway.

Now he pulls into a turnout for a bus stop before his house and waits for cars to pass before driving the last few yards to his property.

“It’s sad,” Fitzsimons said. “For Mother’s Day, for something to happen like that today.”

Anyone with information or anyone who may have witnessed the collision is asked to contact the Hesperia station at 760-947-1500.

Agencies/Canadajournal