Car Hits Pole; 2 Hurt, Driver Arrested

A man suspected of drunk driving was ejected from his car and the engine was ripped out when the car plowed into a power pole in Irvine Sunday, injuring both the driver and his passenger, police said.

The passenger, Bradford Joel Blair, 24, of Orange, suffered “massive chest trauma” and had to be cut from the car, Irvine Police Sgt. Dick Bowman said.

The driver, Craig Gerald Seabourn, 22, of Orange, was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving and was released on his own recognizance because he required hospitalization, Bowman said. He was in serious condition at the Santa Ana Western Medical Center’s intensive care unit.

Blair was flown by helicopter to Fountain Valley Community Hospital, where he was in critical condition, Bowman said.

Police said the collision occurred about 2 a.m. on Harvard Avenue, just north of Main Street.

Seabourn failed to make a curve in the road, smashed into the power pole and was thrown from the car, Bowman said. He suffered a compound fracture of his left thigh bone and a fractured right ankle.