Jamboree Road crash fatal

Marisa O’Neil

A Laguna Beach man died Tuesday after an SUV broadsided his

convertible on Jamboree Road.

The crash occurred at about 2:20 p.m. at the intersection of

Jamboree Road and Back Bay Drive, Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve

Shulman said.

Police would not release the man’s name until his family was

notified, but Orange County supervising deputy coroner Joseph Luckey

identified him as a 64-year-old resident of Laguna Beach.

Martha Lopez, a 35-year-old Tustin resident driving the silver

2002 Isuzu Rodeo that hit the man’s car, was taken to Western Medical

Center in Santa Ana in stable condition after the accident, Shulman

said.

Police believe the man was headed north on Jamboree Road, and the

woman was traveling south and turning left onto Back Bay Drive when

her SUV struck the man’s 2000 Chrysler Sebring, Shulman said.

Neither vehicle had any other passengers, he said.

Firefighters used the Jaws of Life to remove the driver’s-side

door from the Chrysler convertible, Newport Beach Fire Department

spokeswoman Jennifer Schulz said.

About a half-hour after an ambulance took the man to Hoag

Hospital, the motor was still running in his car. Classical music

flowed softly from the car’s speakers as Shulman received word that

the man had died.

Alcohol did not appear to be a factor in the accident, Shulman

said. Police are investigating the accident.

Anybody who saw the crash is asked to call the Newport Beach

Police Traffic Division at (949) 644-3742.