A high-speed car crash in Irvine claimed two lives on Sunday morning, including a person affiliated with a well-known Orange County car show that hosts thousands of vehicles in San Clemente each week, according to police and social media posts.
Irvine police said two people inside a 2019 McLaren were killed in an explosive crash after the vehicle struck a tree near Culver Drive and Deerfield Avenue at 12:18 a.m., according to a department news release.
The vehicle had been stopped at a red light at the intersection and took off at a “high rate of speed” when the light changed, according to police. The driver “lost control of the vehicle” and skipped over a curb before striking a tree, police said.
The car “split in two and caught fire,” authorities said. Police did not identify either victim.
A post from the popular Instagram page “South OC Cars and Coffee” identified one of the victims as 27-year-old James Wehr, who co-founded the group. The group hosts a weekly car show in San Clemente that often attracts thousands of performance cars and muscle cars, according to its website.
“This morning, just after midnight, we lost our darling son and brother James, in a motor accident. We respectfully ask for privacy as a family, as we process this profound loss,” the post read.