Costa Mesa driver dies after heart attack

Deepa Bharath

A 77-year-old Costa Mesa man apparently died Wednesday night after

suffering a heart attack while driving, police officials said.

George Wendell Boose was traveling eastbound on Adams Avenue toward

Fairview Road about 6 p.m. when he lost control of his pickup truck,

which jumped the center median and landed on the other side of the

street, said Costa Mesa Police Lt. Dale Birney.

“He crossed the westbound lanes, collided with a car traveling

westbound on Adams and then hit a car that was parked to the curb of the

street,” he said.

Boose was taken to Hoag Hospital, where he was pronounced dead later

that night, Birney said. Nobody else was injured in the incident.

It is not clear whether Boose lost control of the vehicle because of

the heart attack, but witnesses told police they saw him slumped on the

wheel before he hit the median, Birney said.

Police closed Westbound lanes on Adams Avenue for about an hour and a

half after the incident, he said.