Three teenagers from Orange County are dead and a fourth remains in critical condition after the white SUV they were riding in veered off the southbound 5 Freeway in Anaheim just after 3:15 a.m. Thursday, slamming into a metal guardrail and a concrete pillar before going down an embankment near the Lincoln Avenue exit. The Orange County Sheriff's Department has identified the three killed as 17-year-old Victor Hugo Delgado and 16-year-old Miguel Gutierrez-Avalos, both of Santa Ana, and 15-year-old Levi Jacob Flores of Garden Grove.
Four people were riding in the white Ford Edge when it crashed, according to NBC Los Angeles, whose reporting states that California Highway Patrol investigators said none of the teenagers were wearing seat belts. Two of the four died in the crash itself, while the third, Flores, died Thursday after being rushed to the hospital. The fourth teen, the crash's sole survivor, remains in critical condition. The outlet's reporting has not made clear where the group was headed that night.
Witness statements described in a CHP incident log, as reported by Patch, indicate the SUV appeared to miss the southbound Lincoln Avenue off-ramp while traveling at high speed, then attempted a late turn before veering off the interstate south of Euclid Street. CHP has said speed was a potential factor in the crash, and that drugs and alcohol have not been ruled out — both described as preliminary assessments rather than confirmed findings. The identity of the driver has not been released, and it remains unclear whether that person was among the deceased or is the surviving teen.
Ejected Beneath the Overturned SUV
Emergency dispatch logs relayed by Johnson Attorneys Group show that two of the teens were ejected from the vehicle and were initially found breathing and responsive underneath the overturned SUV before responders arrived, though two victims were ultimately pronounced dead at the scene. The crash forced a hard closure of the southbound Lincoln Avenue off-ramp and four main lanes of the 5 Freeway. Two right lanes reopened around 5 a.m., and all lanes were fully cleared by 8 a.m. Thursday, snarling the morning commute through Anaheim for hours.
Among those mourning is Anthony Lopez, a friend of Levi Flores, who told NBC Los Angeles that Levi was funny and recalled riding mini-bikes together and once driving all the way to Los Angeles and back. Lopez said the skid marks from the crash were still visible at the site when he visited.
A Law Built for Nights Like This
The ages of the teens involved — 15, 16 and 17 — put the crash squarely within the scope of California's provisional licensing restrictions. Under California Vehicle Code Section 12814.6, drivers under 18 who are still in their first year of licensure are barred from driving between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. and from carrying passengers under 20 unless a licensed adult 25 or older is in the car. The Thursday crash happened well inside that curfew window, though CHP has not said whether the driver held a provisional license.
California law also requires seat belts for all occupants 16 and older under Vehicle Code Section 27315, a primary enforcement statute that lets officers pull over a vehicle for unbuckled riders alone, according to Batta Fulkerson. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data show that 51% of teen drivers killed in passenger vehicle crashes were unbuckled, and when an unbuckled teen driver dies, roughly 90% of the teen passengers in the vehicle were also unrestrained.
Research from the National Safety Council has found that carrying multiple young passengers sharply escalates fatal crash risk for 16- and 17-year-old drivers — risk roughly doubles with a single teen passenger and climbs more than fourfold with three or more peer passengers and no adult present. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that motor vehicle crashes remain a leading cause of death for U.S. teens aged 13 to 19, with drivers aged 16 to 19 facing a fatal crash rate per mile driven nearly three times higher than drivers 20 and older.
Crash Landed Just Ahead of Holiday Enforcement Push
The early Thursday crash occurred just before the CHP's statewide Labor Day Maximum Enforcement Period, a 78-hour holiday safety initiative that began Friday evening targeting speeding, unbuckled occupants and impaired driving. It is the second fatal SUV rollover on this stretch of the 5 Freeway in Anaheim that Hoodline has covered in the past year, after a similar crash near Magnolia Avenue in April 2025 also sent a vehicle down an embankment.
CHP investigators have not yet confirmed who was driving the Ford Edge, whether that person held a valid provisional license, or the results of any toxicology testing. The condition of the surviving teenager, still listed as critical, has not been further detailed. Hoodline will update this story as Orange County authorities release additional information.
