Crash victim was ‘the life of the party’

When Juan Romero-Figueroa was teaching his friend how to drive in his Lincoln Town Car, he would yell “Watch out!” when she got too close to other cars — and even when she didn’t. He always liked a good laugh.

That’s how Romero-Figueroa, who died in last week’s multivehicle car crash in Costa Mesa, will be remembered: a loyal friend who always tried to find the humor in any situation.

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” said the “crazy” student driver, Leslie Acosta, 17. “I keep thinking I’ll see him again. It doesn’t seem real.”

Romero-Figueroa, 18, was one of three who died in the June 1 car crash last weekend. His loved ones gathered together Friday for a memorial service at St. Joachim parish in Costa Mesa.

Romero-Figueroa was a “clown” who would jokingly blast music by RBD — a Mexican pop group — from his car on his way to pick up friends. He also had a soft side, often talking affectionately about his mother and offering friends advice.

“He always loved to party and joke around a lot,” said Maribel Robles, 16, of Costa Mesa. “He was a really good friend … he was like an older brother to me.”

Romero-Figueroa, Julio Sandoval-Telles, 21, and Francisco Rodriguez, 19, were killed in the crash on Victoria Street near Canyon Drive. .

“It was weird that it happened in Costa Mesa,” Acosta said. “They were always going to Anaheim, Garden Grove … or Santa Ana.”

The fourth victim, Jose Gustavo Castillo, was driving Romero-Figueroa’s town car that evening. Castillo was arrested at the hospital on suspicion of driving under the influence and three counts of vehicular manslaughter, police said.

“It’s so sad that they arrested Jose at the hospital,” said Yesenia Elias, 18, of Costa Mesa. “The guys wouldn’t have wanted that. They were all the best of friends.”

Some friends and family who attended the Mass wore white or black “in memoriam” T-shirts with images of Romero-Figueroa, some with Rodriguez and Sandoval-Telles, and script text reading “R.I.P.”

“He was the life of the party,” Acosta said. “Things will never be the same without him.”