Santa Ana : Anaheim Man, 21, Dies in Freeway Accident

A 21-year-old Anaheim man died early Monday as he lay in the fast lane of the transition road from the Santa Ana Freeway to the Garden Grove Freeway, the California Highway Patrol said.

A CHP spokesman said it had not been determined whether Steve Todd Axworthy was killed in the crash of his own car or when he was struck by a dark-colored, older model Chevrolet El Camino minutes later. An autopsy is pending.

Nevertheless, the CHP said, authorities are seeking the unidentified driver of the El Camino on suspicion of felony hit-and-run driving.

CHP investigators Sandy and Carlos Salgado said Axworthy was driving a 1979 tan Honda Accord on the transition road from the southbound Santa Ana Freeway to the eastbound Garden Grove Freeway when, for unknown reasons, he veered off the edge of the ramp and hit a guardrail about 1:55 a.m.

When Axworthy’s car stopped in the slow lane of traffic, he either fell or crawled out of the driver’s seat.

An unidentified passer-by stopped and tried to flag oncoming traffic around Axworthy, who was sprawled on the asphalt with his head and chest extending into the fast lane. The driver of the El Camino failed to heed the warning or to slow down and ran over Axworthy at a speed of 60 to 70 m.p.h.

“It has not been established yet whether Mr. Axworthy sustained fatal injuries in his first collision or when he was run over,” a CHP spokesman said. “But we are treating this as a felony hit-and-run collision.”