Auto Collision Kills Woman, Hurts Teen

A 64-year-old handicapped woman was killed Tuesday morning in a car collision that sent debris crashing through the front door of a fast-food restaurant in Anaheim.

The accident occurred at 8:06 a.m. when a Ford driven by a 16-year-old male collided with a Buick driven by Lois Anne Arnold of Stanton at Ball Road and Dale Street.

The cars apparently “went up into the air” on impact, Sgt. Karl Foncea said. When they landed, a motorized cart “catapulted out of the trunk” of Arnold’s car and into a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant, shattering the front door.

Arnold was dead on arrival at Humana Hospital-West Anaheim. The youth, from Anaheim, was taken to UCI Medical Center, where he was in fair condition with cuts and bruises, hospital spokeswoman Fran Tardiff said. Police did not release his name.

It appears that one of the drivers ran a red light, Foncea said, but police have not determined which one. The youth was wearing a seat belt, but it wasn’t known whether Arnold was because witnesses had already taken her out of the car when police arrived, Foncea said.

No one in the restaurant was injured.

Restaurant manager Yvonne Hudecky said that the Jack-in-the-Box is normally full of students from Dale Middle School at that hour. “Thank God this is not a school day,” she said. “During school, there are a lot of kids inside and outside here.”

Benjamin Koonz, 36, who lived with Arnold at the Katella Mobile Home Estates in Stanton, said she had been injured in an accident several years ago, but he did not know the details of the accident. He said it left her with limited use of her legs, and she used the motorized cart if she had to go far from her car.

Arnold was active in many charities despite her handicap and was “loved by the community,” Koonz said. “She was a very kind, giving person. She would help anyone. She was always contributing to charities.”

Arnold had two adult sons, Koonz said. He did not know were she was going when the accident occurred, but said she had just dropped off a friend at a senior citizen center.

Among all the broken glass, skid marks were found only where Arnold’s car stopped, on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant.

“I didn’t hear any brakes screeching,” said Holly Moody, 18, who works at a corner gas station. “I just heard the crash and that was it.”