Woman Critically Injured in Car Plunge
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A 41-year-old Costa Mesa woman was in critical condition late Sunday after she was thrown from a car as it plunged off the Costa Mesa Freeway in an apparent drunk-driving crash, authorities said.
The unconscious woman, whose name was not released, was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana with major lacerations, Costa Mesa Fire Capt. Randy Hicks said.
California Highway Patrol officers arrested the 29-year-old male driver of the Camaro, who they said fled the scene immediately after the 8:20 p.m. crash. He was found a short time later in the neighborhood near the crash.
He was believed to be the boyfriend of the injured woman, authorities said.
The man, whose name was not released Sunday night, was held on suspicion of felony drunk driving and felony hit and run, CHP officials said.
A preliminary investigation at the scene indicated that the driver was speeding north on the Costa Mesa Freeway when, for unknown reasons, he lost control of the car and it fell 25 feet down an embankment near the Baker Street exit.
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