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Items stolen from teen’s newly restored memorial

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The family of a Costa Mesa teen recently killed in a car crash said Sunday that items had been stolen from a memorial they had recently put back up.

The memorial marked the spot along Susan Street near Sunflower Avenue where Luis Adrian Torres, 19, crashed his 1990 Jaguar XJ-6 into a tree on June 16.

His family said they were shocked to see everything missing Sunday, one day after they brought back the items, including Torres’ Bible and his Chipotle crew T-shirt.

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Family friend Mary Thomas Sanders said the family will file a police report.

“I just want his things back,” his sister Bernice Torres, 21, said.

About 48 hours after the memorial first went up, a woman thought to be a Providence Park resident, or employee from the neighborhood’s homeowners association or Irvine-based property management company ordered them to take down the makeshift tribute.

However, Keystone Pacific Property Management Chief Executive Cary Treff personally apologized to the family, saying they could put it back up.

“The Providence Park Homeowners Assn. Board of Directors and the Keystone Pacific Property Management team are saddened and dismayed that someone would steal from the memorial for Luis Torres,” Treff said in a prepared statement to the Daily Pilot about the theft. “Our hope is that the person or persons responsible will return the stolen items immediately.”

— Bradley Zint

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