ORANGE : Man Arrested After Freeway Accident
A man and a child were injured Thursday afternoon when their car swerved into a second vehicle, spun out and struck a concrete bridge abutment on the northbound Santa Ana Freeway, the California Highway Patrol said.
Jose Luna Dimas, 18, was critically injured in the crash and taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving and child endangerment, said CHP officer Pete Gustafson.
Dimas’ 2-year-old sister, who was sitting next to him in the front seat, suffered moderate injuries when Dimas was thrown onto her. Neither wore a seat belt, Gustafson said, although there was an empty child safety seat in the back seat.
A 48-year-old Whittier man in the second car was not injured.
The accident occurred at 2:10 p.m., north of Chapman Avenue, blocking two freeway lanes for about 45 minutes. Northbound traffic was backed up for about three miles, Gustafson said.
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