Accident on I-5 Injures 2; Ties Up Traffic for Hour

Two people suffered serious injuries in a bizarre accident Saturday afternoon that tied up traffic on northbound Interstate 5 for more than an hour.

The chain reaction accident began at 3:25 when the equipment on a tow truck, which was pulling a Brink’s armored car, broke as the truck was traveling about 40 m.p.h. in the right-hand land of southbound I-5 near La Costa, according to the California Highway Patrol. The tow truck spun and became wedged in the guardrail.

The armored car crossed the four lanes of southbound traffic, broke through the center dividing cable and crossed into northbound traffic, said a CHP spokesman. A car in the left lane of northbound I-5 swerved, striking the armored car with its right side.

An Oldsmobile driven by Stephen Moran, 28, of Valina, then collided with the armored car. Both Moran and his passenger, 23-year-old Kelly Ervin of Covina, were flown by Life Flight helicopter to Scripps Memorial Hospital, where they were listed in stable condition late Saturday with abdominal injuries.

As the armored car traversed the last lane of northbound I-5, the driver of a pickup truck slammed on his brakes, throwing a child passenger to the floor, said the CHP spokesman. The truck did not hit the car and the child suffered only superficial injuries.