Irvine Woman, 25, Dies When Thrown From Car

A 25-year-old Irvine resident who was on probation after being convicted of drunk driving died after her car veered out of control on the Garden Grove Freeway and went down an 80-foot embankment, a California Highway Patrol spokeswoman said Wednesday.

April Kollenborn, who was not wearing a seat belt, was traveling west on the Garden Grove Freeway east of Main Street at an unknown speed when she lost control of her vehicle, CHP spokeswoman Angel Johnson said.

The car sideswiped several trees on its way down the embankment, overturned and landed at the bottom of a flood control channel. The woman was thrown into a concrete wall and died at the scene, investigators said.

“Had she been wearing a seat belt, she would have stayed inside the car. She may have just had some minor injuries,” Johnson said. “She died, basically, from being ejected into that wall.”

Officers are investigating whether the accident is alcohol- or drug-related because they found several beer cans and a hypodermic needle at the scene, authorities said. Kollenborn was convicted of drunk driving and driving with a suspended license in 1993 and was put on court probation until April 1996, Department of Motor Vehicles records show. She also was also cited for not wearing a seat belt in 1994, records show.

Investigators are asking anyone who saw the accident to call Officer Matt Clark at (714) 547-8311.