Costa Mesa : Driver Critically Hurt in Hit-Run Collision

A 27-year-old man was hospitalized in critical condition after being injured Sunday in a hit-and-run accident, police said.

Mark E. Stroup was taken to Fountain Valley Regional Hospital after his car apparently rear-ended another car at the corner of Harbor Boulevard and Wilson Street at 1:59 a.m., Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Tim Holbrook said.

The driver of the car that Stroup allegedly hit failed to stop and fled south on Harbor Boulevard, Holbrook said.

Stroup remained in intensive care Sunday with two broken arms, a broken leg and a damaged liver, according to a hospital spokeswoman. On Sunday, police were uncertain where Stroup lives.

“We don’t know who was at fault,” Holbrook said. “The driver who remained at the scene was believed to have hit the other driver, but it was the other driver who fled the scene.” Usually, Holbrook said, it’s the other way around.

Even if Stroup caused the accident, the driver who fled the scene could be prosecuted for felony hit-and-run driving. Under California law, all drivers involved in any way in an accident must stop and exchange information.

“If you leave an injury accident, it’s a felony,” said a traffic officer who declined to give his name. “If you leave a non-injury accident, it’s a misdemeanor.”

There are no suspects, and an investigation of the accident is continuing, Holbrook said.