Local News in Brief : Fountain Valley : 3 Injured as Van, 2 Other Vehicles Tangle

Three people were injured Thursday when a woman driving a 1975 Chevrolet van lost control when a tire went flat, crossed the center divider and plowed into oncoming traffic on Harbor Boulevard, authorities said.

Georgette L. Tadawz, 28, of Santa Ana was driving southbound on Harbor near Warner Avenue about 12:50 a.m. Thursday at a high rate of speed, when the right front van tire went flat, California Highway Patrol Officer Bill Jacquez said.

He said Tadawz tried to use the van’s brakes but lost control and drifted across the two southbound lanes, over the 20-foot center divider and into northbound traffic lanes.

Tadawz’s van struck a northbound Chevrolet station wagon and was broadsided by a 1987 Nissan Sentra before she continued out of control over an asphalt embankment and came to rest on a frontage road 12 feet below, Jacquez said.

All three drivers complained of minor injuries. Tadawz and the driver of the Sentra, identified only as Brent Huball of Laguna Hills, were treated and released from Fountain Valley Regional Hospital & Medical Center. The driver of the station wagon, identified only as Debbie Lynn Hopkins of Huntington Beach, was going to seek treatment from her own physician, Jacquez said.