Rash of accidents results in 1 fatality

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT-MESA -- Newport Beach residents were involved in several

traffic accidents Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, including

one that resulted in a fatality.

In the most serious of the wrecks, a Newport Beach woman was killed

when she rolled her white Range Rover at 7:10 p.m. Tuesday on the

Foothill Transportation Corridor near Irvine. The woman, 45-year-old

Christina Rodriguez, was thrown from the sport-utility vehicle after she

lost control of it.

Rodriguez, who was not wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the

scene. In the SUV with here were two boys, ages 5 and 10, whom she was baby sitting. Neither was seriously injured.

The cause of Rodriguez’s death was still under investigation Wednesday

after a coroner’s autopsy. Deputies were also still trying to determine

the cause of the accident.

In Costa Mesa later Tuesday, a Long Beach man who police say was under

the influence of alcohol rear-ended a Toyota 4-Runner with his Dodge Ram

truck at 9:06 p.m. at the intersection of Newport Boulevard and 22nd

Street.

John Robert Egan, 39, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the

influence after causing the accident, which involved four cars, said Lt.

Dale Birney. Egan was driving about 30 mph at the time of the collision.

Egan was arraigned at Harbor Justice Center on Wednesday morning and

released, Birney said.

Of the six people traveling in the three cars involved in the

rear-ending chain, several were taken to hospitals outside of Newport

Beach and Costa Mesa for treatment. All of the injuries were minor.

As Costa Mesa Police Officer Brian Wadkins headed to the scene, he

slid his motorcycle into a car stopped at a red light at Newport

Boulevard and Victoria Street.

Wadkins, 28, was not injured, but his motorcycle was damaged.

Early Wednesday, the accident spree continued when a 21-year-old

Newport Beach man crashed his blue Chevy Blazer into the Pine Knot Hotel

on West Coast Highway.

David Dunn knocked down a city light post before ramming the vehicle

into a corner of the hotel, at 6302 W. Coast Highway.

After the 8:18 a.m. collision, Dunn was taken to Western Medical

Center in Santa Ana and treated for injuries to his face and neck. A

54-year-old woman, still in bed in a hotel room, suffered minor injuries

because of the wreck.

Police are trying to determine the cause of the crash, said Newport

Beach Police Sgt. Steve Shulman.

Also on Wednesday, a surfboard fell into the southbound lanes of the

Costa Mesa Freeway, near the Victoria and 22nd Street exit, according to

California Highway Patrol spokeswoman Katrina Lundgren. The board was

broken into pieces after it was run over by passing cars around 11 a.m.