Local News in Brief : Irvine : Man Is Killed Trying to Elude CHP, Officers Say

A man suspected by a California Highway Patrol officer of drunk driving on the Santa Ana Freeway was killed early Sunday when he drove away at speeds of more than 100 m.p.h. and lost control of his car near the Sand Canyon Road off-ramp, authorities said.

CHP officials said the man, whose identity had not been determined late Sunday, was thrown from the sports car he was driving and landed 250 feet away on Marine Way, a busy street leading to the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

CHP Officer Ron Brame said the vehicle, which had California license plates, had been stolen in Tempe, Ariz. Stolen property and fake identification cards were recovered from the car, he said.

The incident began at 7:54 a.m., when a CHP officer spotted a car doing about 90 m.p.h. northbound on the Santa Ana Freeway, Brame said. The officer pulled the car over near the Lake Forest Drive exit, where the driver, who appeared to be drunk, got out of the vehicle.

When the officer went back to his patrol car to answer a call, the driver jumped back into his car and drove away, reaching speeds in excess 100 m.p.h., Brame said.

Brame said the pursuing officer, joined by an officer in a second patrol car, spotted dust and smoke billowing from the Sand Canyon Road off-ramp and found the car overturned.

Officers administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation before the driver was taken to the hospital.

Witnesses said the car flipped at least seven times before the driver was ejected from the car, he said.