Traffic accident leaves 4-year-old critical

A 4-year-old Costa Mesa girl remained in critical condition on Monday

after she sustained major head and chest injuries in a traffic collision

Sunday evening, officials said.

The girl, whose name was not released because of her age, was a

passenger in a Chevy Suburban driven by 26-year-old June Lee Gutierrez,

said Costa Mesa Police Lt. Dale Birney.

Gutierrez was traveling southbound on Newport Boulevard at about 6:15

p.m. Sunday when she collided with a Mitsubishi Lancer driven by Michael

Anthony Lienert, 43, of Reno, NV. Lienert was headed eastbound on Wilson

Street.

Both vehicles entered the intersection simultaneously, Birney said.

“[The Suburban] flipped over and struck a telephone at the southeast

corner of the intersection,” he said.

Lienert escaped without any injury, but Gutierrez and a 14-year-old

boy in the Suburban suffered minor injuries, Birney said. The 4-year-old

girl is in the intensive care unit at Western Medical Center in Santa

Ana, he said.

The incident is still under investigation. Birney said investigators

believe the accident may have been caused by one of the drivers running a

red light. No citations have been issued yet.