Woman Dies, 4 Hurt in Surfside Traffic Crash

A woman was killed and at least four other people were injured, two of them critically, in a two-car collision Sunday in the Surfside area of Seal Beach, authorities said.

Police said Candace Jean Hastings, 30, of Huntington Beach was killed when the car in which she was riding collided with another vehicle on Pacific Coast Highway at Phillips Street about 6 p.m.

According to police, a car driven by Leeann Rowden, 26, of Long Beach was pulling from a driveway of the private Surfside Colony community when her Toyota was apparently struck by a Camaro driven by Scotti Hastings, 36, of Huntington Beach.

Candace Hastings was pronounced dead at Fountain Valley Community Hospital. Scotti Hastings was was listed in serious condition with head and abdominal injuries at the same hospital, police and fire officials said.

According to eyewitnesses, the impact of the collision flipped Rowden’s car and it landed on its roof. Steve Narda, a resident of Surfside, said he and others tried to free a baby in a car seat as well as Rowden and her other children, who were hanging upside down in their seat belts. Firefighters had to used hydraulic equipment to free the car’s occupants, authorities said.

Both Leeann Rowden and her 6-year-old daughter, Laurie, were reported in critical condition in Long Beach Memorial Hospital, police and hospital spokesmen said.

Internal Injuries

Leeann Rowden had internal injuries and fractures of her arms and legs, a hospital spokesman said. Laurie Rowden suffered a fracture of her left thigh, facial and head injuries and possible internal injuries, he said.

A second Rowden daughter, Amanda, 2, was reported to be “quite stable” at Los Altos Hospital in Long Beach. The extent of injuries to an unidentified infant, also a passenger in Rowden’s car and also taken to Long Beach Memorial Hospital, was unknown late Sunday.

Seal Beach Police Officer Michael Vasquez said the speed of the Hastings auto at the time of the crash could not be estimated because it left no skid marks.

A traffic advisory was announced due to heavily congested southbound traffic from the point of the collision to about Seal Beach Boulevard, nearly two miles to the north, a county Fire Department spokesman said.