SANTA ANA, CA (July 30, 2020) – 67-year-old Eugene Harbrecht, a veteran editor for the Orange County Register, was killed when he was struck by two vehicles involved in a street race, at the intersection of Bristol Street and Santa Clara Avenue.
Around 11:45 a.m., Harbrecht was making a left turn onto Santa Clara Avenue from Bristol Street when two racing vehicles approached him at a high rate of speed and knocked his vehicle out of the intersection.
Harbrecht, driving a black Ford pickup truck, hit an electrical box before the vehicle became stuck in a fence. The vehicle then caught fire.
Two witnesses rushed to help pull Harbrecht from the burning wreck. Harbrecht was transported to UC Irvine Medical Center, where he died from his injuries a short time later.
The two drivers involved in the street race which caused the accident, 29-year-old Louie Robert Villa and 24-year-old Ricardo Navarro Tolento, have since been arrested on multiple charges each.