Crash Kills Woman; Driver Tries to Flee
A Laguna Niguel woman was killed late Thursday night when the car she was riding in veered off Camino Capistrano into an orange grove and became entangled in a chain-link fence.
Maryfrancis Pulvino, 51, was declared dead at the scene of massive head injuries, said Stephen D. Eicherly, a deputy coroner.
Police called in a Sheriff’s Department canine unit to hunt for the driver of the 1971 Chevrolet El Camino.
James Joseph Robertson, 39, of Laguna Niguel tried to flee on foot, said Lt. Richard J. Olson, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman, but was located in the orange grove about 5 a.m. Friday, more than five hours after the accident.
He was treated for an injured foot and booked for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, Olson said.
Robertson was reportedly driving north on Camino Capistrano just before midnight when he lost control of the car after passing Junipero Serra Road and crashed through a chain-link fence around the orange grove.
A witness said that he continued driving through the grove, glanced off a tree and then attempted unsuccessfully to drive through the fence back onto Camino Capistrano.
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