A suspected purse thief was caught on video crashing into a woman and dragging her 40 yards with his SUV after she confronted him about stealing her sister's purse, Santa Ana Police Department officials announced Thursday.

Surveillance video captured a hit-and-run crash in Santa Ana on June 18, 2018. (Credit: Santa Ana Police Department)

A man went into a family-owned business earlier this month and allegedly stole an unattended purse. Family members saw the theft on video and the vehicle that was involved, and reported the incident to police.

On Monday, family members spotted the same vehicle cruising around the same business and tried to confront the driver, Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna told KTLA..

Video shows a woman, the theft victim's sister, standing in front of an SUV as the driver continues down the street. The driver does not stop, hits the victim and drags her underneath the vehicle about 40 yards, Bertagna said.

The driver then puts the vehicle in reverse and drives off after the victim is unstuck from the vehicle, Bertagna said.

Arturo Suarez is shown in a photo released by the Santa Ana Police Department on June 21, 2018.

The driver, identified as Arturo Suarez, 25, was arrested Tuesday night without incident. Bertagna said he is a parolee with a long criminal history.

The hit-and-run victim is recovering at a hospital, Bertagna said. She required several skin grafts.

"She was on her side seizing, her whole body was curled up and she was shaking,” the victim’s sister, Alicia Jamison, said about the crash.

“You never want that for the people that you love, and seeing somebody that you’re so close to go through something like this, is one of harden things that I’ve ever had to face,” the victim’s brother, Andrew Jamison, said.

Police are looking for more witnesses to Monday's incident.

KTLA's Jennifer Thang contributed to this story. 

A 51-year-old man has been arrested after being accused of sexually assaulting a young girl at a Santa Ana church on Father's Day, and police believe he may have additional victims, authorities said Thursday.

Santa Ana police released this photo of Jose Trinidad Tavarez.

Jose Trinidad Tavarez allegedly molested the 4-year-old girl while she attended a service on Sunday at Oasis Christian Church, according to a Santa Ana Police Department news release.

The incident occurred as children were playing in a separate room while their parents attended a Father's Day service, followed by a holiday celebration, Cpl. Anthony Bertagna told KTLA.

As the girl's mother left for the service, "she noticed that the suspect in this case is entering into the room where he's the only adult with the children in that room," Bertagna said.

Later, as they were driving home, the girl told her mother about the incident and specifically named Tavarez, investigators said.

Tavarez has worked as a handyman and security guard for the church for about a year. He was known to many in the congregation and had been living out of a van across the street, authorities said.

Investigators believe that at some point on Sunday, Tavarez was "able to lure this 4-year-old away." The van has since been impounded.

Police arrested Tavarez on Monday, according to inmate records. He was booked on suspicion of child molestation at the Orange County Jail, where he is being held on $100,000 bail.

Tavarez has prior run-ins with law, having been previously arrested on suspicion of soliciting an undercover officer for sex and contempt of court, according to the release.

Anatol Ford, a pastor at the neighboring Starlight Baptist Church who knows Tavarez, said he's a former drug addict who was trying to turn his life around through God.

"He's very faithful," Ford said. "He just come off of drugs not too long ago. And the street, he lived in the street."

Tavarez, who's a father of three, seemed like he was on a good path, Ford added.

"He got saved, according to the pastor, and he got in church and he was singing and dancing and praising God," he said.

An Oasis Church employee told KTLA it was fully cooperating with the police investigation.

Detectives believe Tavarez may have victimized others, and they released surveillance footage Thursday showing the suspect near the church on Sunday as they ask possible victims to come forward.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact police Cpl. R. Bonilla by calling 714-245-841 or emailing rbonilla@santa-ana.org. Those who would prefer to leave a tip anonymously can do so by calling Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS.

Tavarez is next scheduled to appear in court on July 6.

KTLA's Erika Martin contributed to this report.

An 18-year-old man died early Saturday morning after being shot at a party in Santa Ana, officials said.

A citizen called the Santa Ana Police Department at approximately 1:14 a.m. to report a shooting in the area of 1700 Newport Circle, a news release stated.

Officers responded and discovered that a shooting occurred at an “unsanctioned outdoor party” that a large group of juveniles and young adults attended in the street/parking lot of an industrial park, according to the statement.

Partygoers transported the wounded man to an area hospital where doctors declared him dead at 1:41 a.m., police said. He was identified by authorities as Robert Silva, of Santa Ana.

Homicide detectives were handling the investigation, which remained ongoing.

Anyone with additional information about this case was asked to contact the Santa Ana Police Department at 714-245-8390 or Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855-847-6227.

A man died following an officer-involved shooting at a parking structure in Santa Ana late Sunday night.

Police responded to a call about 11:40 p.m. regarding someone possibly breaking into cars at the structure between the Orange County Sheriff's Department and the police department on Civic Center Drive, Santa Ana Police Department Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.

Arriving officers found a man holding a large object, which Bertagna described as a metal stake of some kind.

One officer attempted to use a Taser on the man, but an officer-involved shooting then occurred, Bertagna said.

It was unclear what led to the shooting.

The man struck by the gunfire was taken to a local hospital, where he later died. Officials have not released the man’s identity but he was described as being in his 30s.

It was unclear how many times he was shot in the incident. The investigation was in the early stages.

“We do know that there was a 18- to 24-inch metal rod next to the suspect,” Bertagna said. “How that played into it, that’s something that they’re looking into as well.”

Investigators plan to review the officers' body camera footage.

Surveillance video from the parking structure and nearby police and sheriff’s departments should also be available. “We have video cameras everywhere,” Bertagna said.

The officers involved in the incident had not been interviewed as of Monday morning.

Police on Tuesday released video amid the search for whoever fatally shot an 18-year-old man at an “unsanctioned outdoor party” in Santa Ana late last month, authorities said.

On June 23, police responded to a shooting in the area of 1700 Newport Circle at 1:14 a.m., according to a Santa Ana Police Department news release.

A large crowd of more than 100 preteens, teens and young adults had gathered in an industrial park when a fight broke out, police said.

The footage that detectives released Tuesday showed the brawl; a single gunshot can also be heard in the video.

Investigators said many people at the party did not wait for police to arrive before fleeing the scene, including the partygoers who transported the victim to a local hospital prior to police arriving.

He was declared deceased at 1:41 a.m., the news release said.

Police identified the young man as Robert Silva of Santa Ana.

No arrests have been made in the case, and police do not have a suspect description.

Detectives are asking the public to report any information related to Silva’s death by calling 714-245-8390 or contacting the Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS.

A man was found fatally shot in his SUV after it apparently hit a woman on a bicycle in Santa Ana early Thursday.

The incident occurred about 5:30 a.m. along the 3000 block of West 5th Street, Santa Ana police said, later identifying the victim as 27-year-old Erik Montes.

The bicyclist saw a vehicle "staggering" in the area, so she got off her bicycle but was somehow struck by the SUV, Cpl. Anthony Bertagna told KTLA.

The woman was OK after the she was hit by the car, the corporal said.

Police then responded to the scene and found that the driver had suffered a gunshot wound. He was declared dead at the scene, Bertagna said, with authorities initially only describing him as a Hispanic man in his 20s.

It is unclear how or where the shooting occurred, or if Montes was shot while driving.

Fifth Street is closed between Susan and Fairview streets, and residents are being asked to avoid the area during the investigation, police said in a tweet.

Police were looking for any witnesses to the shooting.

KTLA's Jennifer Thang contributed to this story. 

A 49-year-old man accused of exposing himself to women aboard a bus in Orange County was taken into custody last month after deputies linked him to two other similar incidents, authorities said Thursday.

Carlos Tirado, a resident of Costa Mesa, allegedly positioned himself next to a 16-year-old girl on a Santa Ana bus on June 19 before exposing himself to the victim and masturbating in front of her, according to an O.C. Sheriff’s Department news release.

Tirado was arrested on June 29 after investigators who reviewed surveillance video recognized him as the same man who was previously arrested on another indecent exposure charge, deputies said.

Earlier this year, in February, Tirado was accused of exposing himself to a 22-year-old woman on another bus in Anaheim, sheriff’s deputies said. He was arrested in March on suspicion of indecent exposure, but was released on bail.

Tirado was awaiting a court date when the recent June incident occurred, the department said.

During an investigation of the June incident, authorities linked Tirado to a third case that occurred late last year aboard another Anaheim bus. Deputies said Tirado revealed his genitals to a 22-year-old woman and proceeded to masturbate while making eye contact with her.

“The victimization of those confronted by the perpetrator is very upsetting and very significant,” said J.D. Hoskins, a sergeant with the Orange County Transportation Authority. “We have seen, in some cases, perpetrators like this get progressively more brazen and, if not stopped, graduate to higher-level sex crimes.”

Tirado is currently being held in the O.C. jail. with his bail set at $25,000. He could face charges of child annoyance and indecent exposure, the news release said.

Tirado is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 8.

The sheriff’s department believes there could be more women who have had similar encounters with Tirado. Investigators urge anyone with more information to contact the department at 714-265-4340 or report anonymously to Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855-847-6227.

A driver was fatally shot by Santa Ana police after leading them on a pursuit into Westminster late Sunday night.

Officers attempted to pull over a maroon sedan for some type of traffic violation at about 10 p.m., Santa Ana Police Department Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.

The driver fled westbound on Bolsa Avenue, leading police on a pursuit from Santa Ana to Westminster.

At some point during the chase, officers believe they saw the driver throw a gun from the vehicle.

The driver then crashed into a car near the intersection of Magnolia Street and Bolsa Avenue, Bertagna said.

He continued westbound in the eastbound lanes before crashing again, this time head-on into a silver Toyota.

A man and woman inside the Toyota were hospitalized in stable condition, Bertagna said.

The pursuit driver, who police noticed was armed with a second gun, fled on foot after the crash.

The officers gave chase and at some point, an officer involved shooting occurred.

“He went down ... died at the scene,” Bertagna said.

It was unclear what prompted the officers to open fire but the second gun was located at the scene, Bertagna said.

No officers were injured in the incident.

One person has been detained in connection with an apartment fire that left three people injured in a Santa Ana early Wednesday. Chris Burrous reports for the KTLA 5 Morning News on July 11, 2018.

A suspected-hit-and-run driver was arrested after allegedly taking an innocent man to law enforcement and falsely claiming he was behind the wheel in a violent string of crashes in Santa Ana that left four injured Wednesday, police said.

David Brihn is shown in a booking photo released by the Santa Ana Police Department on July 11, 2018.

David Brihn, 41, of Santa Ana faces possible charges of driving under the influence, kidnapping and other crimes, according to Santa Ana Police Department Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.

The bizarre series of incidents began just before 3 a.m. when the suspect was involved in a crash at McFadden Avenue and Harbor Boulevard. The driver of a nearby white car in the area witnessed what happened, Bertagna said.

Realizing the white car's driver had witnessed the crash, the suspect – who was behind the wheel of a black car, apparently a Nissan Cube – began chasing the white car, a Honda sedan.

Police described the chase as a road-rage incident.

Nearly 1 1/2 miles after the first crash, both the Nissan and the Honda struck a GMC pickup truck at First and Fairview streets, causing the truck to flip into the air and land about 60 to 80 feet away, Bertagna said.

The driver of the Honda then lost control and slammed into a bicyclist who was waiting at a stop light at the intersection.

Four people – two people inside the Honda, the driver of the pickup truck, and the bicyclist – suffered injuries and were transported to the hospital.

The Honda, the Nissan Cube, the GMC pickup and the bike were totaled and debris was strewn across the intersection. The crash was caught on dramatic surveillance video.

A photo from Santa Ana police shows the wreckage after a multivehicle crash on July 11, 2018.

Meanwhile, Brihn exited the Nissan and ran into a nearby ice cream distribution company, where he grabbed Ignacio Morales, an employee from the business, and took him to Santa Ana police officers who were responding to the crash scene, Bertagna said.

Brihn then tried to convince authorities that Morales was the wanted driver, authorities said.

"Here, I caught the driver of that car for you," the suspect told police, according to Bertagna.

The employee did not speak English, the corporal added.

“They wanted to blame me," Morales told KTLA in Spanish. "The truth is, I wasn’t going to pay for something that I wasn’t guilty for."

Police rejected the suspect's claims and then Brihn allegedly began trying to fight officers, according to Bertagna. Officers ultimately used a stun gun to subdue the man and take him into custody.

Bertagna said Brihn used enough force on Morales that he was booked on suspicion of kidnapping, as well as driving under the influence of drugs, felony hit-and-run, and resisting arrest.

Brihn is suspected of using a stimulant, prompting the DUI allegation, police said.

Firefighters in Santa Ana found a man’s body inside a car after putting out a fire Friday morning.

The fire was reported in the 900 block of Hickory Street about 7:20 a.m., Santa Ana Police Department Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.

Arriving firefighters found a Prius parked in a driveway that was fully engulfed in flames.

Crews worked quickly to douse the flames, then found a man’s body inside the vehicle, Bertagna said.

The unidentified person was pulled from the car and pronounced dead at the scene.

”At this point we don’t know if it’s an accident, a suicide or a homicide,” Bertagna said. Investigators did find a fire accelerant at the scene, he said.

Authorities are checking the neighborhood for surveillance video that could help them in their investigation.

KTLA’s Judy Oehling contributed to this report.

The dead body of a man was found inside a burning car in Santa Ana Friday morning, fire officials said, although it’s still unclear whether his death was accidental, criminal or the result of something else.

About 7:20 a.m., Orange County firefighters responded to a report of a car fire in the 900 block of South Hickory Street. The car, a Prius, was fully engulfed in flames.

Once firefighters were able to put out the blaze, they discovered the dead body of a man inside.

Homicide and arson investigators have been called to the scene but an O.C. fire official told KTLA it’s still unclear if the man’s death was a homicide or had some other cause. Once the coroner gets to the scene, he said, authorities will get a better idea of how the death occurred.

No further information about the man’s identity or other circumstances has been released by authorities.

Santa Ana police on Friday said they arrested a homeless man after linking him to a series of fires in Orange County.

The Orange County Fire Authority responded to a vegetation fire in Santiago Creek near 900 W. River Lane in Santa Ana at around 11:40 a.m. on Friday, officials said.

The Police Department also sent officers to the area and at around 1 p.m., found 26-year-old Gustavo Garcia, according to the agency.

Authorities determined that Garcia was responsible for fires in the area and booked him into the Santa Ana Jail on suspicion of arson, the Police Department said.

Earlier in the week, residents who lived near Jack Fisher Park in Santa Ana voiced their concerns about fires at a public safety committee meeting.

The Fire Department and Santa Ana police began monitoring the area 24/7 and teamed up with Orange officials to address the issue, according to authorities.

Four fires were intentionally set in Jack Fisher Park and along Santiago Creek on July 10 alone, police said. In total, 14 incidents happened between June 10 and July 13 and all appeared to be related. Twelve of them were reported in Santa Ana and two were in Orange, according to authorities.

Officials said they have not ruled out additional suspects.

Anyone with information can call OCFA at 714-573-6709 or SAPD at 714-245-8345.

Gustavo Garcia, 26, is seen in a booking photo released July 13, 2018, by the Santa Ana Police Department.

A homeless man accused of starting seven fires in Santa Ana and Orange was charged Tuesday with arson and vandalism, authorities announced.

Gustavo Garcia, 26, was charged with three felony counts including arson of forest, arson of another’s property and vandalism, according to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

In July, Garcia allegedly started seven fires along Santiago Creek’s vegetation and forest areas in Santa Ana, the news release said.

The defendant is also accused of setting fire to a fence on River Lane in Santa Ana, which spread to the home’s backyard and destroyed furniture, vegetation and a trampoline. The fire resulted in over $20,000 of damage, the DA’s office reported.

Garcia was initially linked to 12 different fires in both cities, but has so far only been charged with seven.

His next court date is scheduled for July 25. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years and three months in state prison.

A 49-year-old Aliso Viejo man pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and running a $6 million scheme to defraud investors promised money from Super Bowl and World Cup tickets to be resold.

Professional poker player Seyed Reza Ali Fazeli, who operated Summit Entertainment located in Las Vegas, made the plea, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California on Tuesday.

Summit Entertainment operated under the names onlinetickets.com and packertickets.com, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Fazeli requested Orange County, Las Vegas and Houston investors to send about $6 million to Summit Entertainment to buy tickets to last year’s Super Bowl and this year’s World Cup, authorities said.

He told the investors his company would resell these tickets at a large profit and share the earnings with them.

Fazeli didn’t share any profits with “numerous investors” after they wired about $6 million to Summit Entertainment, authorities said.

He inaccurately told them the NFL stopped the resale of tickets that resulted in him having to arrange a settlement with the league.  Sales of the tickets, he claimed, were dismal.

Fazeli used the $6 million for gambling money at Las Vegas casinos and personal expenses instead of buying the Super Bowl or World Cup tickets, according to court documents.

Sentencing for Fazeli is scheduled for Jan. 28, 2019 and he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison, authorities said.

Anyone who may have been victimized by Summit Entertainment or Fazeli can call the FBI’s Field Office at 310-477-6565.

Dustin Lee Morgan, 36, is seen in this photo provided by the Santa Ana Police Department.

A Texas man was sentenced to 15 years to life in state prison on Friday, more than 10 years after he allegedly broke into a home in Santa Ana and sexually assaulted an 8-year-old girl sleeping inside, prosecutors said.

Dustin Lee Morgan, 36, was arrested in March 2015 after DNA evidence recovered from the scene linked him to the crime that occurred seven years before.

Morgan was convicted of breaking into the home in the early morning hours of Feb. 8, 2008, then walking into the girl’s bedroom.

She was sleeping when he entered, but he pushed her face down once she awoke and covered her mouth to prevent her from screaming out as he sexually assaulted her, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

The attack ended after the victim was eventually able to cry for help, and Morgan escaped the home from a sliding glass door in the girl’s room, according to the DA’s office.

The girl’s family called police the same night and an investigation was launched. But it wasn’t until seven years later that further DNA analysis tied Morgan to the crime.

Morgan was subsequently arrested in Texarkana, where he lived, by the U.S. Marshals Service and extradited back Orange County for prosecution.

It was unclear whether the defendant was a Southern California resident at the time of the assault.

On June 25, a jury found him guilty of one felony count each of lewd acts upon a child under 14 and sexual penetration of a child under 10.

In addition to being sentenced to prison for life, he must register as a sex offender.

A woman died after riding a skateboard while being pulled by a vehicle, officials said Sunday.

Vanessa Nichole Salcido, a 24-year-old Santa Ana resident, succumbed to her injuries early Sunday after falling to the ground in the 2400 block of N. Spruce Street, according to the Santa Ana Police Department.

The Orange County Fire Authority responded to the scene at around 1:30 a.m. when it received a 911 call about someone falling off a skateboard in a roadway.

Crews said they found the woman unconscious but breathing, treating her briefly at the scene before having her transported to the UC Irvine Medical Center.

At around 4 a.m., a county coroner investigator alerted Santa Ana police that a pedestrian was pronounced dead at 1:59 a.m., according to authorities.

Physical evidence and witness accounts suggested that a car was pulling the skateboard the woman was riding, officals said.

"At some point while being pulled, she either let go or became separated from the vehicle and fell to the ground resulting in major injuries," a statement from Santa Ana police said.

The driver, contacted at the scene, was cooperating with investigators. Police suspected alcohol was involved in the incident.

Anyone with information can call Santa Ana police at 714-245-8200.

Orange County has approved filing a lawsuit to try to stop a free needle-exchange program from starting up within cities in that area.

In an emergency meeting on Friday, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Chairman Andrew Do’s proposal to seek a legal injunction to stop the state-approved mobile needle giveaway, which was set to begin on Monday, according to a news release.

Elected officials from four cities in the county were also in attendance to speak against the proposed program that would have locations in Costa Mesa, Anaheim, Orange and Santa Ana.

The Costa Mesa City Council also held a meeting where members approved joining the county in the lawsuit to halt the initiative.

Local leaders said the program is “dangerous” and would hurt the community.

“This drug needle giveaway is a serious threat to public safety,” Do said in a written statement. “Drug addicts dump their dirty needles all over our community, putting our kids at risk.”

Opponents said the exchange would bring more crime along with discarded needles to the streets.

“This is not about needle exchange,” Supervisor Todd Spitzer said during the meeting. “This is about a society which is starting to sanction this kind of behavior and trying to tell all of us that it’s OK. It’s not OK. We’re losing our neighborhoods.”

“We find, and as a former DA, we know that when people need a fix, they’re not going to wait until they get back to wherever that’s the right place or where they’re from. They will get the hit whenever they get the needles,” Do told KTLA. “And so when they’re done they will discard the needles wherever they use them. We have found that to be the case here in Santa Ana in public libraries, in city parks, in school grounds, everywhere.”

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido is among the officials who believe the program would do more harm than good.

“This is a very dangerous thing," he said. "I mean we’ve got a problem to start off with, but sometimes when you’re trying to make the problem better you can actually make the problem worse.”

Pulido went on to explain how a previous needle-exchange program in Santa Ana led to thousands of discarded syringes in the area. The city sent pictures of the needles to the state to stress its opposition to the program being approved, but the state OK'd the program in the four O.C. cities.

The proposal has prompted residents from both sides to voice their opinions, including in Costa Mesa where a protest against the needle-exchange plans was held on Thursday.

Those in support of the exchange said it aims to help stop the spread of HIV and hepatitis c among drug addicts.

“The purpose of exchange programs is to safely dispose of used syringes while providing sterile syringes and equipment to prevent infectious disease transmission,” the Orange County Needle Exchange Program (OCNEP) stated on its website.

OCNEP also explained that a person would receive the same amount of needles he or she turns in, plus 20 more. The maximum number of syringes given to any person would be set at 200.

OCNEP representatives said they were unable to attend the emergency meeting because of the short notice.

Dallas Augustine, who is on the group's board of directors, emailed the following statement to KTLA:

"OCNEP is grateful the CDPH has approved our application given us the opportunity to proactively combat the opioid crisis in Orange County. We have been in conversation with local officials, law enforcement, and community members and hope to continue working collaboratively with them moving forward. Though we are certified to begin next week, we’ll be waiting until September to begin operating so that we can continue working with local representatives in each city. We will continue as planned and look forward to serving our community."

Update: Authorities on Monday morning identified all five victims killed in the crash. Read KTLA's latest story here. 

A small plane crashed at a parking lot in Santa Ana on Sunday afternoon, killing all five people aboard — including a 29-year-old woman visiting from the Bay Area.

The Cessna 414 declared an emergency and went down at a mall parking lot near John Wayne Airport at 12:28 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The twin-engine aircraft crashed near the South Coast Plaza shopping mall, in the 3900 block of Bristol Street, said Tony Bommarito, a spokesman for Orange County Fire Authority.

All five people on the plane were pronounced dead at the scene, within just seconds of the crash, said Captain Steve Concialdi of O.C. Fire Authority.

One of the victims was identified by her family as Nasim Ghanadan, a 29-year-old real estate consultant who lived in the Bay Area. None of the other victims had been identified to KTLA as of Sunday evening.

A plane crashed at a parking lot in Santa Ana and hit a vehicle on Aug. 5, 2018. (Credit: OC Hawk)

Video of the scene showed the crushed plane sitting in the parking lot of a Staples office supply store. While the plane hit a vehicle, the driver was actually shopping inside Staples at the time, Concialdi said.

He said a group of firefighters were having lunch across the street in the moments just before the crash, when one of them heard some yelling.

"And somebody — one of the patrons — yelled, and they looked up and saw the plane coming down towards the parking lot," Concialdi said.

"So they didn’t see the impact but they heard the crash ... they jumped on their truck and went over there," he said of the firefighters. "They were there within a minute."

He said the first responders worried there would be more people injured or killed on the ground, given how busy that shopping mall can be. While they were relieved to find no one in the car that the plane had slammed into, they soon realized everyone in the plane was already dead, Concialdi said.

The crash did not ignite a fire, but the sound of the impact could be heard from inside nearby businesses. Christian Tornero, an employee at a store in the area, said he could clearly hear it.

"I was working and I hear a loud thud. I thought it was like a semitruck that just tipped over or something," Tornero said.

Kathy Hayden, who was shopping nearby, said it sounded like a Mack Truck running something over — until she looked over and saw some mangled remnants of the plane.

"There was just nothing left and you could smell the gas," she said.

The aircraft was heading to John Wayne Airport, but it was unclear where it was coming from, airport spokeswoman Deanne Thompson said.

All operations at the airport were normal as of 1 p.m., Thompson added.

There were no injuries on the ground, according to OCFA.

Authorities shut down South Bristol Street between Sunflower Avenue and Callen's Common.

The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating the incident, with the exact cause of the crash still unknown.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

KTLA's Steve Granado and Marissa Wenzke contributed to this story.

Correction: A previous version of this story misquoted an official. This post has been updated.

Officials on Monday identified five people killed after the small plane they were on the day before crashed in a Santa Ana parking lot.

Authorities said the Cessna 414 aircraft—registered to a San Francisco real estate firm—went down at 12:28 p.m. on Sunday at the parking lot of a Staples store in the 3900 block of Bristol Street, about two miles away from its destination, John Wayne Airport.

The plane left the Buchanan Field Airport in Concord at 10:23 a.m. and was scheduled to arrive at the Santa Ana airport at 12:30 p.m., according to FlightAware.com.

"The pilot declared an emergency, however, he did not state the nature of the problem," Albert Nixon, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said at a news conference on Monday.

Victims include three coworkers, a husband and a son

The victims include Navid Hakimi, 32, of Los Angeles; Floria Hakimi, 62, of Danville; Nasim Ghanadan, 29, of Alamo; Scott Shepherd, 53, and Lara Shepherd, 42, both of Diablo, according to the Orange County Coroner. There were no other passengers on the plane.

Floria Hakimi, Lara Shepherd and Ghanadan all worked at Pacific Union, a real estate firm, their colleague Brian Morgan confirmed. Floria and Lara were realtors, while Ghanadan was a real estate consultant.

Morgan described Floria as a "generous soul" and "amazing person" who lived to help people, both in her professional and personal life. “It was never too much that she couldn’t give,” he said.

Ghanadan, Morgan said, was someone who would light up any room. “Nasim was just joy wrapped inside a person," he told KTLA. "She was amazing.”

Laura was a “wonderful wife and mother to her kids,” ages 5 and 7, Morgan said.

Scott Shepherd, who the coroner identified as the aircraft's pilot, was her husband. According to Morgan, he was an accomplished pilot.

“We’ve talked to people who’ve flown with him, who know who he is, and they’re just dumbfounded,” he said.

The women were heading to Anaheim for a motivational real estate conference, Tom Ferry's Success Summit.

Navid Hakimi was Floria's son. He was in the Bay Area visiting his mother and joined her for the flight back to the Los Angeles area, where he lived with his partner and their 2-year-old child, friends said.

Courtney Zellhoefer, who used to DJ with Navid, said he would be sorely missed.

“He was kind and generous and talented and beautiful and supportive," she told KTLA. "We’re listening to his music now because his music was beautiful.”

Investigators probing what caused crash landing in parking lot

The crash did not ignite a fire, and nobody on the ground was hurt.

Matt Robinson, an aviation expert with the Southern California Safety Institute, said the minimal evidence of a post-crash fire suggests there was minimal fuel on board at the time.

The driver of a car struck by the aircraft was shopping inside Staples at the time, according to O.C. Fire Authority. Three other vehicles were hit, NTSB said.

KTLA spoke with a man who said he saw the plane drop out of the sky.

"It was nosing down too steep, so it was coming forward, and then it was just in our vision and then all of a sudden we could see the belly of the plane and the bottom of the wings, and then it almost cartwheeled straight down," Gary Sparks said.

Others also described the horrifying sights and sounds at the scene.

"I was working and I hear a loud thud," said Christian Tornero, who worked at a store in the area. "I thought it was like a semi-truck that just tipped over or something."

A woman shopping nearby said it sounded like a truck was running something over until she saw the plane.

"There was just nothing left and you could smell the gas," Kathy Hayden said.

According to O.C. Fire Authority, a group of firefighters having lunch across the street jumped on their truck and rushed to the scene after one of them heard screaming.

"And somebody — one of the patrons — yelled, and they looked up and saw the plane coming down towards the parking lot," agency spokesman Steve Concialdi said.

All of the victims were declared dead at the scene, according to O.C. Fire Authority.

The mangled aircraft remained at the parking lot on Monday morning as officials worked on determining the cause of the crash. Later that evening, crews were seen loading the wreckage onto trailers and hauling it away.

Federal transportation investigators are looking at factors such as the pilot's level of experience, whether there was enough fuel on board, or if there was an engine failure and how any of that may have contributed to the deadly crash.

NTSB said it expected to have a final report in 12 to 18 months, but will issue a preliminary report much sooner — possibly as soon as next week.

KTLA's Alexandria Hernandez and Erika Martin contributed to this story.

Correction: A previous version of this story misquoted an official. This post has been updated.