Solo Crash Kills Man; Woman Hurt in Collision

A multiple-vehicle accident Sunday and a solo car crash Saturday night left a woman injured and a man fatally hurt.

William Ellis, 33, of Orange was pronounced dead at UC Irvine Medical Center after his 1962 two-door Volkswagen overturned and ejected him. He was traveling north on Laguna Canyon Road about 3 1/2 miles north of the intersection with El Toro Road when his car veered off the road. He was speeding at the time of the 9:30 p.m accident, reports said.

Anna Mary Parker, 28, of Anaheim suffered moderate injuries Sunday as a result of a chain reaction of mishaps on the Artesia Freeway in Buena Park. An unidentified driver was being sought by the California Highway Patrol after fleeing the scene, a patrol dispatcher said.

The Artesia Freeway incident involved five cars in three collisions in the westbound lanes near Western Avenue, the dispatcher said.

The incident began at 8:29 a.m. when Parker lost control of her car while trying to avoid an object in the road. She spun out and struck the center divider, where her car came to rest facing the wrong direction. Two other drivers observed the collision and stopped their cars 75 feet away.

A minute later, a pickup truck struck the two cars that were stopped. The driver of the truck fled via the Knott Avenue exit, the dispatcher said. Another driver, seeing the hit-and-run collision, braked and swerved left into the center divider and struck Parker’s vehicle, while she was standing at her left front door. Her right shoulder and arm were caught in the door and she was dragged several feet.

She was treated at Western Medical Center-Anaheim for her injuries.

Buena Park police found the truck involved in the hit and run parked off Orangethorpe Avenue east of Knott Avenue.

The driver was still at large Sunday night, according to reports.