Local News in Brief : SAN DIEGO

A 30-year-old mother of two, who had recently been suffering from panic attacks, was killed Wednesday when she lost control of her car and collided head-on with an ambulance on Friars Road, authorities said.

Authorities suspect that the Pacific Beach woman may have blacked out from another of the panic attacks that she has experienced since the death of her father five months ago.

The victim, Cynthia Lelevier, a Fashion Valley hairdresser, was declared dead at the scene in the 5800 block of Friars Road, police said. She was alone in the car.

The two occupants of the Hartson’s paramedics unit involved in the crash were slightly injured, authorities said. There were no patients in the ambulance, which was under contract to the City of San Diego. The accident occurred shortly after 6 p.m.

San Diego police were investigating the cause of the accident and trying to determine what made the victim lose control of her car. An autopsy is scheduled today.

However, Deputy San Diego County Coroner Penne Hammerstead said investigators have theorized that the victim may have suffered a panic attack, causing her to lose control of the car. Such attacks, which can cause a loss of consciousness, had been plaguing the victim since her father died, Hammerstead said, adding that witnesses reported seeing the vehicle weaving just before the crash.