13 People Injured in Van Rollover Near Fallbrook

Thirteen men were injured Monday when the van in which they were riding with six other residents of a San Diego drug rehabilitation center overturned on California 76 near Fallbrook, officials said.

The two most seriously injured passengers were taken by helicopter to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, where they remained under observation for undetermined injuries, hospital spokeswoman Edie High said. J. C. Horn, 27, was in fair and stable condition and Manuel Tacho, 38, was in good condition, High said.

California Highway Patrol Officer John Jiacoma said the 1976 Chevy van was traveling east on California 76 just east of Gird Road about 6 a.m. when it failed to negotiate a turn, ran off the road and rolled 1 1/4 times. The van was traveling 45 to 50 m.p.h. on the curve, where the posted speed is 35 m.p.h., Jiacoma said.

The driver, David A. Glenn, 32, was the only person in the van who was wearing a seat belt, and he was not injured, Jiacoma said. Five passengers also escaped injury.

Four of the injured were taken by ambulance to Palomar Hospital in Escondido, two to Tri-City Hospital in Oceanside and five to Fallbrook Hospital, Jiacoma said.

Those 11 less-seriously injured men, who ranged in age from 17 to 47, were released within hours, said Roxanna Salcido, a spokeswoman for the Victory Outreach drug rehabilitation program, which is run by the San Diego-based Victory Outreach church.

All 19 men were residents of the program’s East San Diego home, Salcido said. Glenn had gone to pick them up from two job sites in the Clairemont Mesa and Fallbrook areas, where they had been dismantling carnival equipment, she said.

The nonprofit rehabilitation program usually has three vans, but one broke down Sunday and another was not working, Salcido said. She said she did not know whether the van used Monday had been a commercial vehicle equipped with seats or whether the men had been sitting on the floor.

Jiacoma said the driver was not cited, but CHP officials were investigating whether the van was registered as a commercial vehicle for transporting people and whether it was rated to carry as many as 19 passengers.