Suspected Drunken Driver Held After Two Killed in Crash

A suspected drunk driver raced his pickup truck along a sidewalk Sunday, uprooting trees and bushes before ramming another car in a collision that resulted in two deaths and left the other driver injured, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.

About 10 witnesses told CHP investigators that Gonzalo De Rosa Garcia, 25, of Orange appeared “intoxicated and irate” as he traveled east about 7 p.m. and ran a stop sign on Center Street in the El Modena area at the eastern edge of Orange. Garcia’s truck crashed into the left side of a car driven by Fernando Grossi, 47, of Anaheim, who was northbound on Hewes Street, CHP Officer Mike Lundquist said.

Driver Listed as Fair

The impact sent Grossi’s car 50 feet through a fence to the northeast corner of Center and Hewes, Lundquist said. Both passengers in Grossi’s car, his wife, Norma, 42, of Anaheim, and Javier Valdez, 45, of Orange, died of injuries suffered in the crash.

Fernando Grossi was listed in fair condition Monday night at UCI Medical Center, a hospital spokesman said.

Garcia received only a cut on his left arm and a bloody nose and was treated at UCI Medical Center before being booked at Orange County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence and manslaughter, Lundquist said. Bail was set at $10,000.

The Grossis’ 13-year-old daughter, Priscilla, apparently learned of her mother’s death in the predawn hours Monday, according to a neighbor.

“She (Priscilla) called me at a quarter to 3 in the morning,” said Mike Delgado, who lives two doors from the Grossi home. “She was on the phone crying that her mother was in an accident and was killed. She was in hysterics, really.”

Delgado said that he walked to the Grossi home to console Priscilla but that she told him her brothers would take care of her. A 16-year-old brother, Leroy, lives at the Grossi home, but Priscilla also has four older brothers, Delgado said.

Children Taken to Hospital

Later in the day, according to Delgado, neighbors took food to the Grossi children, and another neighbor drove them to the hospital to see their father, a welder.

“The family is afraid he (Fernando Grossi) might tend to give up, so they didn’t want to tell him yet” of his wife’s death, Delgado said.

“My wife and (Norma Grossi) were about as close as neighbors can get,” Delgado said. “There wasn’t one time you’d hear an unkind word about her. She treated our kids like her own. She never missed a birthday. She would . . . baby-sit if one of our kids had to stay home sick.

“About five months ago my mother passed away, and she (Norma Grossi) brought a big plate of food over. There’s a lot of neighbors here you wouldn’t want to give the time of day to, but she was something really special. It’s hard to comprehend. It’s one of those tragic things.”

Priscilla Grossi’s best friend, Dee Dee Delgado, 12, said Mrs. Grossi was like a second mother to her.

“When I found out she was dead, I started crying,” Dee Dee said. “She was a sweet lady. I loved her so much.”

Dee Dee said that after Priscilla composed herself on Monday, she showed her a Christmas present addressed: “To my daughter Priscilla. I love you with all my heart. Your mom.”

“She didn’t want to open it,” Dee Dee said.

Before colliding with the Grossi car, Garcia apparently tried to run his truck into the El Modena Community Center building, Lundquist said, but was prevented by a fence. It was not known why Garcia drove onto the sidewalk, he said.

“We came in this morning and found a mess,” said Margaret Reister, director of the center. “There were skid marks all over the front walk. Thank God we were closed over the weekend, or else there would have been children playing in the front of the sidewalk.”