NEWPORT BEACH : Driver Rescued, Cited After Plunge Off Cliff

A suspected drunk driver lost control of his car during a high-speed chase early Friday and landed halfway down a steep slope, where firefighters used a litter and ropes to lift him to safety.

Brea police said they saw Thomas Amidon, 42, of Riverside driving up to 120 m.p.h. in the westbound lanes of the Artesia Freeway at 3 a.m. When police tried to pull him over a chase began, but officers lost him six miles later, Newport Beach police Lt. Jim Carson said.

Minutes later, Orange County sheriff’s deputies spotted him driving south on the Costa Mesa Freeway near the Garden Grove Freeway, but they weren’t able to keep up with him either, Carson said.

The driver took Jamboree Road at speeds up to 90 m.p.h. heading toward Coast Highway, where he drove off a cliff and came to rest 50 feet down the side of a hill behind a Pavilions supermarket, Fire Battalion Chief Nick Waite said.

“A tree kept him from going all the way down,” Waite said. “He could have been worse off had the tree not been there.”

About 12 firefighters worked about 25 minutes to rescue Amidon, who was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and released on his own recognizance, according to police and fire authorities.

Amidon suffered minor injuries and was in stable condition at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, a hospital spokesman said.