Police Seeking Witnesses in Man’s Slaying

Police are searching for witnesses who may have seen the killing of a Corona man they found behind the wheel of his car drifting across lanes of traffic on Yorktown Avenue near Beach Boulevard.

Lt. Ed McErlain said Saturday that citizens who watched the car ride up a curb and hit a light standard at the intersection of Yorktown and Beach flagged down police about 10:30 p.m. Friday.

The officers, thinking the driver was drunk, were about to motion him to pull over. But the silver Mitsubishi, moving slowly east along Yorktown, crossed the center divider and rode onto an embankment.

Officers said they found the driver, Stephen William Aniston, 27, alive but with wounds too severe to have been suffered in the “minor” collision they had just witnessed.

Authorities declined to say what kinds of wounds Aniston had suffered, or where on his body they were located. They are classifying the death as a homicide.

Paramedics were called to the scene, but police said Aniston died en route to Pacifica Community Hospital in Huntington Beach.

Police said they are not releasing the exact cause of death because the circumstances surrounding the death had not been determined Saturday night. McErlain did say that police believe Aniston suffered his injuries near the Yorktown and Beach intersection.

Investigators are trying to determine how Aniston was injured. Those with information can call (714) 969-2272.