3 Teens Killed in Crash in H.B.

Three friends who had gone out for coffee were fatally injured early Wednesday when a driver ran a red light and slammed into their car in a Huntington Beach intersection.

Jillian Baedeker, 19, and Nancy Le, 18, died at the scene. Chelsea Toma, 19, died about eight hours later at UCI Medical Center in Orange, police said.

All three were from Huntington Beach and had been “inseparable” since their senior year at Marina High School, friends said.

They had spent the day together on the beach and making plans for a trip to Rosarito, a popular resort town just south of the Mexican border, during spring break.

Police arrested James Paul Bell Jr., 27, of Rowland Heights on suspicion of felony drunk driving. Bell was also taken to UCI Medical Center, where he was reported in critical condition Wednesday.

Baedeker, who was driving, was the daughter of Rick Baedeker, president of Hollywood Park since 1999. The family publishes Baedeker’s Guide, a professional handicapping journal sold at racetracks in California.

“Basically everyone’s in shock and disbelief,” said Mike Mooney, a spokesman for the racetrack. Family members said the women had gone out to a Starbucks coffee shop and were within two miles of Baedeker’s home when the crash happened about midnight.

Sgt. Gary Meza, a spokesman for the Huntington Beach Police Department, said Bell, driving north on Beach Boulevard, ran a red light at Edinger Street and broadsided Baedeker’s car, which was traveling west through the intersection.

After hitting the victims, Meza said, the car struck a second vehicle stopped at the light, slightly injuring its two occupants.

“We have a witness who said [Bell] was driving erratically and had gone through another red light before the accident,” Meza said. “We don’t know whether he was chasing someone, being chased by somebody else or just driving like a maniac.”

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Motor Vehicles said Wednesday that Bell had two recent citations: the first in 1999 for entering an intersection in West Covina “without sufficient space to clear it,” the second in 2000 for making an illegal U-turn.

Seeking other witnesses to the crash, police held a news conference Wednesday at which they displayed the mangled cars. They also were planning to hand out leaflets at the scene of the crash.

An impromptu shrine at the intersection drew friends and relatives of the three women, including Baedeker’s mother, Claudia, who exchanged tearful hugs with family and friends.

Among the flowers, candles and mementos was Toma’s nametag from Huntington Surf and Sport on Main Street, where she worked part-time between classes at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

“It’s unbelievably sad,” said Brandon Ward, 22, a manager at the store who had known her for about a year.

“She was beautiful, really sweet--a fun girl to be around. Her attitude was really awesome. I’m pretty sick to my stomach about the whole thing.”

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Times staff writer Tina Borgatta contributed to this report.