2 Hospitalized After Collision Outside El Toro’s Main Gate

Two people were severely injured Monday night when an Irvine man’s car traveling 50 m.p.h. apparently ran a red light and collided with another vehicle near Irvine, police said.

California Highway Patrol Officer Art McMahan said Dmitri Bowden, 24, was traveling east on Trabuco Road just before 6 p.m. when he apparently went through the red light at Sand Canyon Avenue just outside the main gate of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station near Irvine.

Bowden, who had a passenger, was broadsided by Mary Mastropietro, 31, of El Toro. Mastropietro was traveling south through a green light on Sand Canyon Avenue when the accident occurred, officers said.

McMahan said Bowden was trapped inside his car for 45 minutes before he was cut free by Orange County firefighters. He was airlifted to Mission Community Hospital in Mission Viejo, where he was listed in critical condition.

His passenger, Robert Guziec, 20, had minor to moderate injuries, CHP officers said. Guziec, a Marine stationed at El Toro, was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana for treatment. A hospital spokeswoman said he was not admitted.

Mastropietro suffered major injuries but was listed in fair and stable condition at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana.

CHP officials said laboratory tests on Bowden showed no sign that he was was driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.