Monday, Sep. 29, 2008

Witnesses sought in I-5 wrong-way fatal

Family mourns father who saved wife, sons from Cambodian genocide to settle in U.S.

Authorities seek witnesses who had contact with a driver involved in a head-on collision that took his life and killed another person on Interstate 5 Sunday.

California Highway Patrol officers believe drunken driving led to the crash at 2:49 a.m. Sunday that killed Donald Vanness, 57, of Woodbridge, and Yoeun Sum, 56, of Stockton.

Witnesses are asked to call the CHP's south Sacramento office at (916) 681-2300.

Vanness was driving his BMW north in the southbound lanes of I-5 at Hood Franklin Road when he slammed head-on into Sum's Toyota Camry. Also in Sum's car were his wife, Sokpov Van, who is in serious condition at Mercy San Juan Medical Center, and three other family members.

Commenting on why Vanness was driving the wrong direction, CHP Officer Michael Bradley said, "Probably because he was extremely intoxicated."

Bradley did not disclose the Vanness' blood alcohol content, pending a court order. The level probably will be disclosed later, he said.

For now, investigators say they hope to talk to witnesses of the crash or people who spoke with or saw Vanness before the wreck, Bradley said.

Sum was driving home from a family wedding in Willits with his wife, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter when the crash occurred.

Sum had escaped Cambodia nearly 30 years ago, fleeing with his wife and two young sons to avoid the genocide that took the lives of 1.7 million people in that country.

But Sunday, Sum couldn't avoid the BMW hurtling at his family. His daughter and grandson, traveling in a car ahead of his, had a narrow escape when her husband swerved at the last moment.

"I saw a car come out of nowhere, and my husband barely dodged it," said Monyan Van, 22. "It then hit the other car" carrying her parents.

Van and other family members sat in an intensive-care waiting room while their mother, Sokpov Van, 55, underwent surgery Sunday at Mercy San Juan Medical Center off Coyle Avenue in Carmichael.

She had a concussion, a broken rib and a broken leg. Van remains in serious condition at the hospital's Trauma Intensive Care Unit, Mercy spokesman Bryan Gardner said this morning.

As of Sunday, Van didn't know her husband died in the crash, according to their son, Thoeun Van, 26, of Stockton.

Sum's Camry burned after the crash. The fire was extinguished, and the victims were removed from the vehicle by firefighters from the Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department.

Sum died at the crash scene, officials said. Family members in the car were taken to different hospitals.

Thoeun Van said Sunday that his sister's 5-month-old daughter, Tyana Kylie Youen-Chanhkhiao, his brother, Chandra Van, 21, and his sister-in-law Chao Yang, 20, had been transported to UC Davis Medical Center.

The infant was released from the hospital late Sunday morning. Chao Yang remained on life support, while her husband Chandra Van was in stable condition, he said.

Vanness was pronounced dead at UC Davis Medical Center.

Officer Michael Bradley, a spokesman, said the CHP has launched a DUI investigation.

Officials said an off-duty police officer saw the BMW going north in the southbound lanes moments before the crash, and he tried to warn motorists by flashing his lights.

He also assisted victims, along with the Fire Department, which sent six ambulances and five engines. Firefighters had to pry open both vehicles to remove the victims, fire spokesman Steve Capps said.

Thoeun Van said his parents escaped from Cambodia to Thailand with him and his brother Sam, now 28.

"They tried to kill my mom," he said, referring to Khmer Rouge revolutionaries.

But in what he described as a close call, his mother fainted. When the Khmer Rouge left her for dead, the family made its escape.

All of their mother's relatives were killed, said Monyan Van, Thoeun's sister.

From Thailand, the family traveled to Vietnam, where Sum worked as a refugee camp leader, according to a document his son showed Sunday.

The family eventually settled in Alabama. Sum worked as a sanitation worker, and his wife worked in a factory until each suffered disabling injuries, the son said.

In 1984, the family moved to Stockton. Sum and his wife had more children and, later, grandchildren.

The couple were a study in contrasts, according to their children. "He's the quiet one," Thoeun said of his father. "He really didn't talk unless it was important."

His sister said their mother "talks a little bit loud, but she's really funny and loving."

When asked what she would do when she got to see her mother, Monyan said she wouldn't be able to hug Sokpov Van, because of her injuries, but would tell her mother that she loved her.

"And I wish I could tell that to my dad," Monyan said, her voice catching.

Thoeun Van said he had planned to take his parents back to Cambodia next year for the first time since they left. His dad still had family there.

Instead, Thoeun will focus on what his father would want the son to do in his absence.

"To take care of everybody," he said.