Man uninjured in car rollover

Mike Swanson

A Brea resident suffered only a scraped arm early Aug. 15 after his

Mazda Miata flipped and skidded about 200 feet on Laguna Canyon Road.

David Walloch, 42, said he remembered driving southbound at about

60 mph and the next thing he knew, he was upside down screeching

across the road.

“He’s lucky to be alive,” Sgt. George Ramos said. “If his car

didn’t have a Fiberglas top and was one of those convertibles, he’d

be dead.”

Judging from the accident scene, which was between El Toro Road

and San Joaquin Hills Toll Road, Walloch’s Miata apparently struck

the guardrail, flew about seven feet in the air and hit a sign with

flashing yellow lights, then skidded across traffic and stopped on

the median, Ramos said. Walloch said he had no idea how it happened.

The time of the accident, 6:47 a.m., may also have saved Walloch’s

and others’ lives, Ramos said.

“There were still cars out there, but the traffic was pretty

light,” Ramos said. “I really can’t believe how lucky this guy was.”

Walloch was taken by ambulance to Mission Hospital and held

overnight for observation. They released him the next day.

Ramos said even Walloch’s laptop computer that fell out of the

trunk was virtually undamaged.

“It was just sitting there in the road in its little case,” Ramos

said. “We popped it open, turned it on and it powered right up. Then

the guy says, ‘See, it’s an Apple.’ Lucky, lucky man.”

The accident put Laguna Canyon Road on Sig Alert for more than two

hours, Sgt. Darin Lenyi said.

Police later issued Walloch a citation for driving off the

roadway.