Fetus Killed in Crash as Suspect Flees

A drunk driver fleeing a traffic accident critically injured a woman who was crossing a street in Santa Ana, killing her 7-month-old unborn baby, and then sped from that accident too, police said Monday.

Felipe Garcia, 20, of Santa Ana, had collided with a car at 1st and Euclid streets in Santa Ana at 11:55 p.m. and was speeding away when he struck Gudelia Calvan, 29, as she stepped off the center divider in the 3900 block of 1st Street.

Two Santa Ana police officers saw the accident. One rushed to help the woman, while the other chased Garcia a short distance and arrested him. No one was injured in the first accident.

Calvan on Monday was in “very critical condition with multiple broken bones,” said Hong Nguyen, nursing supervisor at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center.

The baby was pronounced dead after an emergency Cesarean shortly after midnight, Nguyen said.

The officer who arrested Garcia said he was extremely drunk, police spokesman Cliff Seward said. Garcia was arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run and felony drunk driving, and was taken to Orange County Jail.

As of 5 p.m. Monday, the California Highway Patrol had arrested 102 people on suspicion of drunk driving in Orange County since the holiday weekend began, contrasted with 93 during all of last year’s three-day holiday weekend, CHP Officer Matt Clark said.

“From trends so far, we will far exceed the number of (drunk driving) arrests of last year,” Clark said. “The weekend holiday is not over, and we will continue to aggressively enforce the laws affecting drinking drivers.”