Woman, 80, Dies in Crash, 2nd Injured

An 80-year-old Huntington Beach woman died Sunday after losing control of her car and crashing into a traffic signal in an unusual accident that seriously injured a passenger, Fountain Valley police said. Pauline E. Hazlehurst was rushed to the emergency room at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital, where she was pronounced dead about an hour later, a coroner’s spokesman said.

Passenger Mikiko Ingram, 55, of Hesperia, was in serious condition in the hospital’s intensive care unit, a spokeswoman for the regional trauma center said Sunday. Ingram was being treated for a broken pelvis, neck injuries and cuts, police said.

Hazlehurst lost control of her 1977 Chrysler Le Baron while turning left from the eastbound lane of Slater Avenue to the northbound lane of Magnolia Street about 10:30 a.m., Fountain Valley Police Sgt. Larry Griswold said Sunday. The car struck the traffic light standard at the northwest corner of Magnolia and Slater, indicating that the car turned too sharply.

“It was an unusual accident,” Griswold said, adding that no other cars were believed involved. “We really don’t know what caused the accident. We don’t know whether she had a medical problem or whether it was simply inattention to the road, but she just didn’t make the turn.”

The coroner’s office said an autopsy is pending today. Police investigators were expected to interview Ingram as soon as she was able.

The fatal accident occurred less than a mile from Hazlehurst’s home in the 17300 block of Waal Drive in nearby Huntington Beach. It was not immediately known where the two women were going at the time of the crash.

Hazlehurst was believed to have no surviving relatives, a coroner’s spokesman said.