Police Believe Truck Owner Has Left Area : Crash: CHP disavows earlier report of failed safety check of church van in which 8 people were fatally hurt. Inspected vehicle was the church’s bus.

SANTA ANA —  The owner of a pickup truck that crashed into a church van Sunday, killing eight people and injuring 11, is believed to have left Southern California, authorities said Tuesday.

David Martinez Palma, 23, who was initially identified as David Mendoza of Santa Ana, has not been seen by authorities since the crash, Orange County’s most deadly accident, and may have gone to Phoenix. His wife, Cristina Mendoza, 21, left their rented home with their two children in a hurry Monday about 10 p.m., her neighbors said.

Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters said Tuesday that investigators were told that Martinez may have fled to Phoenix. “It is a lead, and we are checking every possibility where he could be, hoping to talk to him to find out if he was involved,” Walters said.

Police have not issued arrest warrants or statewide bulletins for Martinez because he “is only wanted for questioning at this point,” police spokeswoman Maureen Haacker said.

Martinez’s truck was one of three vehicles involved in Sunday’s accident at Flower Street and Civic Center Drive. All those killed and most of those injured were riding in a passenger van headed for church services. Immediately after the crash, questions arose over the safety of the van because of its makeshift seats and lack of safety belts.

Authorities reported that the van had been ordered out of service in November by a California Highway Patrol inspector because of equipment problems and absence of maintenance records and drivers’ logs.

But a CHP spokesman in Sacramento said Tuesday that the agency was inaccurate about the inspection. The CHP’s motor carrier section actually inspected a different church vehicle--a bus--and pulled it out of service last November, said Officer Phil Konstantin, a spokesman for the CHP division that includes Orange County.

The van that was in the accident was not purchased until May of this year and was not inspected by the CHP, he said.

At the accident scene, witnesses told police they saw a man get out of a 1984 white Chevrolet pickup and flee on foot.

A police spokesman said fingerprints and blood samples from the truck have been taken to identify the driver.

About an hour after the accident occurred, police said, Martinez’s wife reported the truck as stolen. It was the same day they used the truck to help move furniture and other possessions into a new neighborhood in the 2400 block of South Maple Street.

The fleeing driver of the truck eventually could be charged with felony vehicular manslaughter, police said.

Police Lt. Robert Helton said early Tuesday that the apparent disappearance of the couple did raise suspicion. But without sufficient evidence against Martinez, he said, “we can’t list him as a suspect.”

Haacker confirmed that Martinez “did not come home Monday night.”

On Tuesday, neighbors said that they saw Cristina Mendoza leave her home on Maple Street accompanied by the couple’s two children, and that she was carrying bags with clothes inside. She also has missed two days of work.

“There was a truck out there, a guy was waiting outside, I guess he was impatient,” said an across-the-street neighbor who asked that his name not be used. “He was knocking at the door, and honking the horn.”

A few minutes after the man left, the neighbor said, Mendoza and the two children walked down the street, bags in hand.

Flora Lara Angueano, who rents a separate part of the same house, said she had seen no sign of the family Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a special CHP traffic investigation team was attempting to reconstruct how the three vehicles collided and determine who was at fault. A CHP spokesman said that report may take six weeks or longer.

Of the three crash victims remaining hospitalized, Mainor Mendez, 11, of Garden Grove remains in critical but stable condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange, and Mirtala Castro Lopez, 50, of Santa Ana and Glenda Aguirre, 21, of Westminster improved from stable to fair condition and were moved out of intensive care at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo.

Aguirre, who is suffering from a cut on her head and injuries to her knees and elbows, said from her hospital bed that she was surprised to wake up in the hospital and learn of the accident. “I don’t remember anything, I really don’t remember anything,” she said. “It’s very sad.”

The van was driven by Pastor Octavio Valentin, 55, of the non-sectarian Church of God in Santa Ana.

Police have downplayed allegations of possible state Vehicle Code violations. Although the van was equipped with only five seat belts and carrying at least 15 passengers, there may not have been any laws broken.

Because of the crash toll, lack of seat belts and use of modified seats have opened a debate over how far state officials should press for stricter safety regulations of vehicles. The CHP said Tuesday that had the van been inspected--as required by state law because it was being operated as a bus--it would have been ordered off the road.

But while the state does not allow children to ride in the backs of pickup trucks, nor allow cyclists to ride without helmets, officials concede the law concerning cargo vans has holes in it.

According to the Department of Motor Vehicles, Valentin’s driving record shows that he has been involved in three vehicle accidents in 3 1/2 years and was cited after an accident on Dec. 3, 1989, for failing to stop at a red signal.

Cristina Mendoza did not go to work as scheduled Tuesday afternoon, or Monday afternoon, at St. John Knits, an Irvine clothing manufacturer, said her supervisor, Elena Cisneros. Mendoza has worked as a full-time presser at the company since February, 1989, according to personnel records.

Cisneros said that Mendoza’s cousin, Elizabeth Mendoza, brought in a note Tuesday from Cigna Health Plan saying that Cristina Mendoza would not be at work all this week because of a hurt finger. Cisneros was not sure when Mendoza last came to work at the factory.

Times staff writers Thuan Le and Jodi Wilgoren contributed to this report.