DUI Suspected in Multi-Car Freeway Crash : Accident: Five people are injured in chain collision set off after car hits center divider. Two drivers arrested.

A man suspected of drunk driving crashed into the center divider on the Riverside Freeway early Monday, triggering a chain-reaction accident that left five people injured and five vehicles demolished, the California Highway Patrol said.

Michael J. Lindsey, 23, of Yorba Linda was heading east on the freeway when he lost control of his pickup truck about 1 a.m. and veered into the center divider at Weir Canyon Road, CHP Officer Angel Johnson said.

Four other motorists, including another alleged drunk driver, tried to swerve out of the way but ended up smashing into one another, Johnson said.

“One of the passengers suffered pretty serious scalp lacerations and head injuries,” Johnson said.

The unidentified passenger was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, while four others were treated and released at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Anaheim.

Lindsey and Gustavo Valdivia, 23, of Highland were arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. Monday’s accident was the second in as many days involving alcohol and multiple injuries.

At 1:30 a.m. Sunday, a man suspected of drunk driving plowed head-on into another car while traveling south in a northbound lanes of the San Diego Freeway near Harbor Boulevard, police said.

Four people were injured, and two men were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, police said.

“Accidents involving drunk drivers can happen any time,” said Reidel Post, director of the Orange County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.

“But during this time of the year, the chances are greater because there’s an increase in the number of parties, where part of the celebration often includes intoxication,” Post said.

Last year, 66 people were killed in Orange County in alcohol-related accidents, MADD statistics show.