CRASH KILLS IMMIGRANTS : 7 DIE WHEN TRUCK OVERTURNS IN RIVERSIDE COUNTY; 18 HURT.

Byline: Mary Beth Alexander, Virginia Gonzalez and Daniel Taub Daily News Staff Writers

Seven people died and 18 others were injured Saturday morning when a stolen pickup packed with presumed illegal immigrants overturned while being followed by U.S. Border Patrol agents in rural Riverside County.

The deadly crash happened amid public outcry over Monday's videotaped clubbing of two illegal aliens by Riverside County sheriff's deputies at the end of a high-speed chase.

Activists on both sides of the illegal immigration issue protesting in Los Angeles on Saturday used the fatal crash to fuel their emotionally charged causes.

At a downtown rally, 6,000 people gathered to protest inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants by law enforcement. Many declared the crash one in a string of unnecessary tragedies.

``For this incident to have come in the aftermath of the . . . clubbing of the two Mexican immigrants, it's really outrageous and a scandal,'' said Juan Jose Gutierrez, executive director of the Los Angeles-based One Stop Immigration Center. ``We want to reserve judgment on what happened . . . but on the other hand, we are really alarmed,'' Gutierrez said after the downtown march.

Protesters at a Westwood rally calling for a crackdown on illegal immigrants, said both incidents pointed to the need for heightened border control.

``This is the kind of situation you're inviting when you don't secure your border,'' Ronald Prince, chairman of the Save Our State anti-illegal immigrant organization. ``We keep wondering how many of these situations it's going to take before (President) Clinton finally secures the border.''

Both sides pointed a finger at the U.S. government - blaming it either for doing too little to stem the flow of illegal aliens, or for casting a blind eye at brutality against aliens.

The incidents demonstrate two problems the government faces with immigration - the threat to the welfare for the American public and the threat to the safety of illegal aliens, said Alan Bersin, U.S. attorney for California's southern district and Attorney General Janet Reno's southwest border representative.

``We consider protection of civil rights and effective border patrol to be two sides of the same coin,'' Bersin said in a phone interview from San Diego.

The crash happened around 5:30 a.m. in an unincorporated area of Riverside County near Temecula, about 60 miles north of the Mexican border - not far from the Interstate 15 checkpoint where Monday's high-speed chase began.

Agents spotted a 1989 GMC pickup while staking out an area popular with immigrant smugglers trying to skirt the checkpoint, said Jim Pilkington, Border Patrol agent and spokesman.

Suspecting the pickup and camper shell were loaded with illegal aliens, the agents followed the vehicle for a few miles at 40 to 50 mph. They checked the Hawaii license plate by computer, and learned the truck had been stolen, Pilkington said.

The agents radioed for help from the California Highway Patrol or the sheriff's department, Pilkington said. Meanwhile, the truck turned and accelerated, and the agents lost sight of it until a cloud of dust billowed from the gully, he said.

All seven victims were crushed beneath the truck, officials said. High speed and the weight of the occupants probably contributed to the crash, officials said.

Pilkington said the driver sped up even though agents did not try to pull the truck over.

``Our agents at no time had lights or sirens on and did not attempt to stop the vehicle,'' Pilkington said. ``At no time was there any kind of pursuit.''

Other victims were taken to hospitals throughout the area.

Eight survivors, including two in critical condition, remained at Riverside General Hospital on Saturday night, nursing supervisor Norma Wilson said. A ninth person was treated and released from the hospital, she said.

Three of those victims had been transferred to Riverside General from Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, spokesman Dan Dredla said.

One man suffered a head injury, fractured ribs, and a broken pelvis and hip. Another suffered a fractured neck and spinal cord injury, and was paralyzed from the neck down, Dredla said.

The third man also had a fractured neck, but was not paralyzed, Dredla said. He also had a broken ankle.

Two others men were treated at Inland Valley and released, and another 21-year-old man remained there with internal injuries, Dredla said.

Two other survivors were treated at Sharp Hospital in Murietta, then released, a nursing supervisor said.

Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejoreceived two male survivors, who remained on the hospital's medical surgical floor late Saturday, a nursing supervisor said.

A pursuit preceded the Monday incident that ended in South El Monte with Riverside sheriff's deputies caught on television news videotape clubbing two occupants of a truck that had been crammed with about 20 suspected illegal immigrants.

That incident has spawned investigations by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the FBI into the conduct of the deputies involved.

It also prompted Saturday's downtown march, during which protesters chanted ``Queremos justicia,'' meaning ``We want justice,'' and ``La raza unida jamas sera vencida,'' which translates to ``A united race will never be defeated.''

State Sen. Tom Hayden, D-Los Angeles, who plans to run for mayor, suggested to the gathering that Gov. Pete Wilson's push for tougher illegal-immigration laws may indirectly have caused Monday's incident.

``I hope that Gov. Wilson is asking himself if he had anything to do with creating the climate that led to the swinging of these batons,'' Hayden said.

In response, a Wilson spokesman scoffed at the idea.

``It's not an issue of antagonism against illegal immigrants, it's an issue of the federal government being unable to control the border,'' said spokesman Sean Walsh. ``We say there is a right way to come into the country and there is a wrong way.''

Though not scheduled in response to this week's events, the Westwood anti-illegal immigration rally at the Federal Building touched on both. Demonstrators there also made demands to correct the problem.

``We call on the president of the United States to put our military on the border immediately, to deport every illegal immigrant in the United States immediately,'' said Glenn Spencer, rally organizer and president of the Sherman Oaks organization, Voice of Citizens Together.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) Moses Tapia of Los Angeles joins in a post-ma rch rally near City Hall.

(2) About 6,000 people marched in downtown Los Angeles to protest the inhumane treatment of illegal aliens.

Evan Yee/Daily News