Suspected drunk driver hits utility pole, knocks out power in Malibu

A suspected drunk driver slammed into a utility pole along Malibu Canyon Road on Saturday morning, knocking out power for more than 3,000 homes in the area and causing traffic signal outages along Pacific Coast Highway, authorities said.

The crash occurred at about 7:30 a.m. in an unincorporated area in the canyons above Malibu, said Sgt. Philip Brooks of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Malibu/Lost Hills station. Brooks said no one was killed in the crash but did not have information on any injuries.

The accident disabled traffic signals on PCH south of Malibu Canyon to Topanga Canyon, Brooks said.

A Southern California Edison spokesman said 3,363 customers lost power due to the incident. A temporary outage at the sheriff’s station caused its computerized dispatch system to reboot.

By 8:20 a.m., though, power was restored to 2,921 of those homes, said Edison spokesman Paul Netter. And all but two of the traffic signals were functioning, according to Brooks.

Malibu Canyon Road remained closed between PCH and Mulholland Drive, according to the sheriff’s department. Brooks cautioned that beachgoers were likely to face heavy traffic on the roadways that remain open.

Twitter: @vicjkim