Pregnant Women Hurt in Crashes

A series of Monday morning accidents on a rain-slicked stretch of the Santa Ana Freeway--involving a big rig that jackknifed and an armored car that slammed into a parked police car--left two pregnant women hospitalized and created a vast traffic snarl, officials

said.

Terri Lynn Baccher, 31, of Placentia was listed in stable condition Monday evening at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, where she was being treated for a broken leg and ankle, according to Angel Johnson, spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol.

Baccher, who is eight months pregnant, was trapped in her Ford Explorer for 45 minutes after she rammed into and under the big rig, which had gone out of control about 9:15 a.m. A second pregnant woman, Sharmon Intili, 26, of Riverside, crashed her Toyota Four Runner into the Explorer and was treated for back and neck pain.

The tractor-trailer jackknifed as it approached the Jeffrey Road exit from the southbound freeway, Johnson said. Three separate, minor collisions had already caused a traffic backup in the area, and the driver of the truck, Rafael Toribio Serrano, 37, of Lynwood, lost control of his vehicle when he tried to slow down, officials said.

The truck hit the center divider and slid across several lanes, causing the subsequent crashes and a traffic jam that stretched northward several miles, CHP Officer Raul Malfavon said.

Shortly after the big rig crash, as traffic slowed in the northbound lanes, a Wells Fargo armored truck lost control and smashed into the rear of the parked CHP cruiser in the center divider, then slid into a Caltrans vehicle. No one was injured in that accident.

It was noon before the freeway was cleared of wreckage and traffic returned to normal, Johnson said.