http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1671135.php

Carwash driver kills manager
A man runs into a 15-year employee and father before hitting a clothes
store and two vehicles.
By KIMBERLY EDDS
The Orange County Register

COSTA MESA – A carwash manager was crushed to death by a Mercedes SUV
on Wednesday afternoon while directing one of his employees to park
cars, leaving co-workers and customers stunned.

Friends and family members rushed to the Classic Hand Car Wash on
Wells Place, not wanting to believe what they had heard. Eduardo
Rodriguez, 36, an outgoing husband and father who seemed to be
everyone's friend, was dead. The Costa Mesa man left behind a wife and
2-month-old baby. He had worked at the car wash for 15 years.

Rodriguez was standing in front of a freshly detailed Toyota Tundra
about 4:10 p.m. when he directed a Elias Izara, 25, of Costa Mesa, to
bring around a 2007 Mercedes SUV that had been brought in for
detailing, Costa Mesa police Lt. David Andersen said. The carwash's
regular driver had called in sick, and Izara was filling in moving
cars from the car wash to detailing.

Rodriguez was signaling him to move closer to the Tundra when the
Mercedes suddenly lurched forward, Andersen said.

The Mercedes SUV slammed into Rodriguez, pinning him against the
Tundra. The SUV kept accelerating, pushing the Tundra out of the way
and running over Rodriguez as it sped forward, Andersen said. The
Mercedes crashed into a clothing store in the middle of a traffic
circle, knocking over a potted palm tree.

The SUV kept going, careening into a black Escalade as it sped around
the loop, hitting the store a second time and stopping almost exactly
where it first took off.

"He wasn't their regular driver, and he didn't have a license,"
Andersen said. "He may have inadvertently stepped on the gas instead
of the brake."

After the Mercedes stopped, Izara walked into the carwash office,
Andersen said. Other employees later pointed him out to police as the
driver.

Izara was arrested for driving without a license. A federal agent
stationed at the Costa Mesa Police Department placed an immigration
hold on Izara.