San Diego
A Long Beach man was being questioned by police on suspicion of drunk driving Thursday night after his van plowed into a parked pickup truck in south San Diego, injuring as many as eight people, San Diego police said.
Police spokesman Dave Cohen said Ricardo Ortiz was driving a van east on California 905 about 2 miles east of Brown Field when he hit the pickup. The van overturned into a field on the southern side of the highway, police said. Ortiz told authorities that the 1:30 p.m. accident occurred when he swerved to avoid a dog.
Cohen said eight people, including five children, were in the van. Seven of those were hospitalized with injuries ranging from minor to serious, but no names were released. The truck driver was also hospitalized with unspecified injuries. His name also was unavailable.
Ortiz was given a field sobriety test and taken in for questioning. He was not injured. By late Thursday night, he had not been booked.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
