Teacher dies as car veers into bike

For the record: An article Friday, “Teacher dies as car veers into bike,” should have read that teacher Candace Tift died early Thursday after being fatally injured late Wednesday while riding her bicycle.

An Eastbluff Elementary School teacher was fatally injured while riding her bike early Thursday. She was hit by a driver allegedly under the influence of prescription drugs.

Candace Tift, 31, a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher, was riding her beach cruiser on the sidewalk of West Coast Highway in Newport Beach, near the Sterling BMW dealership and just blocks from her Costa Mesa home. About 7:37 p.m. Wednesday a woman driving a Lexus veered onto the curb and hit her, police said. Arriving emergency officials found Tift lying on the sidewalk, with severe injuries to her head and body.

She was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where she died at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, police said.

Tift was not wearing a helmet.

The driver of the Lexus, Janene Kathleen Johns, 52, of Irvine was arrested at the scene on suspicion of felony driving under the influence. The charge will likely be upgraded to vehicular manslaughter, Newport Beach Police Sgt. Bill Hartford said.

Johns was still behind the wheel of her car when police arrived on the scene.

Tift had been riding her bike with her cocker spaniel on a leash beside her. The dog was unharmed in the accident and was released to Tift’s family, Hartford said.

Officials at Eastbluff, located in Newport Beach, expressed shock and sadness when the news reached the Newport-Mesa Unified School District on Thursday.

“Candace was the most charming, personable professional any principal could ever want working for her,” Eastbluff Principal Charlene Metoyer said. “She always had a smile on her face. She had a gift for being able to deliver instruction that was meaningful to each child in her classroom.”

On Thursday afternoon, a team of Newport-Mesa counselors and administrators met with staff members at the school. Susan Astarita, the district’s assistant superintendent of elementary education, said the counselors would be on hand for faculty, parents and students. The district also planned to send a letter to Eastbluff families about Tift’s death.

“A week from now, a month from now, children will remember her, and we want families to have the resources they need,” Astarita said.

Tift, who began her teaching career at Davis Elementary School in 2000, transferred to Eastbluff three years later. She taught students in the gifted program and also led math competitions at the school.

“Everyone speaks of her as being one of the kindest, most caring teachers,” Astarita said.

Tift had been at Eastbluff on Wednesday to set up her classroom for the new school year, which begins Sept. 5.

“She was just so nice to me the whole year,” said 9-year-old Cassidy Betts, who was in Tift’s class at Eastbluff last year. “I was new at that school and she helped me through being a new student. I thought she was a really great teacher.”

Cassidy remembered her teacher as someone who was “into the environment” and taught students about recycling and hybrid cars.

“She wanted to make the world a better place,” she said.

On her class website, Tift had posted the list of supplies for her incoming students along with a message: “I am looking forward to September!!!”

Investigators are still determining why Johns veered onto the sidewalk, but she did appear to be under the influence at the scene, Hartford said.

Thursday afternoon, Johns posted bail after being booked into Orange County Jail. A spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney’s office said charges had not yet been filed against Johns.