3 injured, vehicles and home damaged in accident

Alcohol is believed to be a factor in an accident early Thursday morning in which a three-quarter-ton work truck crashed into a Yuma home, seriously injuring three people.

The driver of the work truck, identified as 33-year-old Bryan Scarbrough, was traveling south on 1st Avenue at an excessive speed shortly after midnight when he lost control of the vehicle near the intersection of 9th Street, according to Yuma police.

"A blood sample was obtained and has been sent to the Arizona Department of Safety Crime Lab," said Sgt. Don Willits of the Yuma Police Department. "It can take up to four weeks to get the results back on the blood sample, but we may request for them to be done sooner in this case."

The truck ran off the roadway, struck a 1997 Nissan Altima parked in front of a neighboring house, rolled over and crashed into the home at 888 S. 1st Ave., police said.

Damage to both vehicles and the home were extensive, police said.

Willits said witnesses who saw the truck before the accident reported it was traveling on 1st Avenue at an estimated 75 to 80 mph.

"Based on the tire marks on the road, we know excessive speed was involved," Willits said. "(Scarbrough) actually lost control of the vehicle at about 8th Street."

Scarbrough was trapped inside his vehicle for about half an hour after the accident, he said.

A Rural/Metro ambulance rushed Scarbrough to Yuma Regional Medical Center with serious injuries that were later determined to be non-life-threatening, police said, while the occupants of the home suffered serious injuries that were not life-threatening.

The home occupants' names were not immediately available from police, but neighbors identified them as Yolanda Santini and her daughter, Annette Orgel.

"I heard it last night," Santini's cousin and neighbor, Tony Santini, said. "I got up out of bed to see what was going on. I came outside and I could see a lot of dust. After the dust cleared I saw a utility truck upside down in the living room. My cousin and the baby was screaming. We called 911 and they showed up."

He has a sister who lives two houses down from Yolanda Santini. "It knocked my sister's fence down."

Joseph Olea lives across the street. "It was like an explosion," he said. "(The occupants) were both sleeping in the living room."

Anyone with information about the accident is asked to call 373-4700 or 78-CRIME.

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James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854. Jennifer Lovell can be reached at jlovell@yumasun.com or 539-6849.