Authorities Wednesday publicly identified an 81-year-old man and an 80-year-old woman who were killed in a Labor Day crash near Interstate 15 in Escondido.
Lauro Ordonez, 81 of Lemon Grove, was driving a black 1998 Jaguar XK6 south on Interstate 15 around 3:30 p.m. Monday when he exited at the HOV offramp to Del Lago Boulevard at or near freeway speed, failed to stop at a traffic signal and struck the side of a 1996 Toyota Avalon that was heading westbound on Del Lago Boulevard, according to information from Escondido police and the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Rita Pulida Quintero, 80 of Escondido, was in the front passenger seat of the Toyota at the time of the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene, the Medical Examiner’s Office reported.
Ordonez was taken to Palomar Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:08 a.m. Tuesday.
A 51-year-old female passenger in the Jaguar was taken to a hospital in serious, but stable condition and a 43-year-old man driving the Toyota was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, Escondido police Lt. Scott Walters said in a statement on Monday.
“Both the passenger of the Toyota and the driver of the Jaguar were unrestrained at the time of the collision,” Walters said.
–City News Service
