San Juan Capistrano : Power Restored After Car Downs Pole on I-5
Electricity was restored Tuesday to about 1,300 homes in San Juan Capistrano after a car knocked down a power company pole, causing four 60,000-watt lines to fall across all eight lanes of the San Diego Freeway and block early morning traffic for nearly an hour.
At about 3:35 a.m., a 1977 Chevrolet traveling south veered off the freeway, drove through a fence and sheared a pole just south of Avery Road, said Officer Randy Rimmey of the California Highway Patrol.
The driver and two passengers fled the scene, he said.
The freeway was reopened about 4:30 a.m. and power was restored to all the homes by 10 a.m., said Tom Murnane, a spokesman for San Diego Gas and Electric Co.
The CHP closed both northbound and southbound lanes of the freeway at 10-minute intervals from 2 to 3 p.m. Tuesday to replace the four long power lines that run across the freeway, Murnane said.
A CHP spokesman reported no major delays during the repairs.
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