Risks cancel Harris tribute

A Costa Mesa woman has canceled plans for a Saturday memorial for the Huntington Beach woman who was killed in last weekend’s car crash after police advised her the event could cause violent confrontations with people opposed to the vigil.

“I am a mother of two, and I don’t want to put my family through anything,” Gabriella Hahn said of her decision to cancel the memorial to Sara Noel Harris. “I have to think of them first.”

Hahn, 32, a stay-at-home mom, said she received numerous negative phone calls and e-mails after she announced plans to decorate Adams Avenue Saturday morning with pink ribbons in honor of Harris, who died Sunday when the car she was driving crashed into a traffic pole at Adams and Mesa Verde Drive. Many were angry with Hahn’s plans to memorialize Harris after police reported they were investigating the possibility she and her boyfriend may have been drinking before the crash, Hahn said.

“She’s free to do as she likes,” said Sgt. Bryan Glass, a spokesman for the Costa Mesa Police. “We didn’t tell her not to do it, but if she’s getting negative responses from people who don’t think it’s appropriate, then in the name of keeping the peace and avoiding conflict, maybe it’s not a good idea.”

Hahn chose pink for the ribbons because Harris’ family and friends said it was Harris’ favorite color. Many people also contacted Hahn over the past few days to offer support for the memorial and to donate ribbons.

“I am going to go by myself tonight and wrap as many pink ribbons around the traffic pole as I can, and that will be my tribute to her,” Hahn said Thursday afternoon.

Authorities are investigating the possibility Harris and her boyfriend were drinking and racing in two separate cars down Adams Avenue before the Sunday afternoon accident because that’s what the boyfriend allegedly told investigators, police said.

Although Hahn did not know Harris, she said she felt a connection to the woman’s family because her brother died in an alcohol-related car accident, she said. Hahn intended the memorial to be a way for strangers who were touched by Harris’ death to pay tribute to her and reach out to the woman’s bereaved family, she said.

“I guess there’s just too much controversy over this,” she said.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.