San Diego : Man Is Killed as Car Plunges From Bridge

An unidentified man was killed and a woman seriously injured early Friday when their car plunged from a bridge on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and sank in a flood-control channel.

The woman, also unidentified, was in critical condition Friday at UCSD Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The pair was traveling south on a bridge over the San Diego River flood channel at high speed when the accident occurred about 12:05 a.m., Deputy Coroner Ken Bell said.

Minutes later, an off-duty lifeguard who noticed that part of the guardrail had been torn away, spotted the car under about 10 feet of water, authorities said.

Lifeguard Dave Cockrum entered the channel and found the woman near the bridge pylons. She had either been ejected from the car or had been pulled out of the vehicle by incoming current, said Nick Lerma, another lifeguard who arrived at the scene minutes after Cockrum.

The survivor, a white female 20 to 30 years old, was taken by Life Flight to UCSD Medical Center, Bell said.

The man’s body, wedged inside the car, was recovered when the vehicle was pulled by a tow truck from the water.

The pair carried no identification, Bell said. The man, also white, was 6 feet, 10 inches tall, thought to be in his 40s and wearing a black shirt, blue jacket and brown corduroy pants.