Car Crashes, Lands in School Playground

A 53-year-old Port Hueneme man allegedly trying to avoid stopping for a school crossing guard Wednesday crashed his car into a school fence and landed in an empty playground.

The driver, Mark Lehrer, was not injured.

Heading south on Ventura Road north of Clara Street about 2:20 p.m., Lehrer veered around vehicles stopped for the Hueneme Elementary School crossing guard who was in the intersection stopping traffic for children, Port Hueneme police said.

Lehrer crossed the intersection of Ventura Road and Clara Street, driving south in the northbound lanes, police said. His car hit a tree on the east side of Ventura Road and narrowly missed an occupied vehicle parked at the curb.

Lehrer’s car then crossed the sidewalk and struck a chain-link fence around the playground of Hueneme Christian School. The car tore out about 50 feet of fencing and knocked down a medium-size tree before stopping, tangled in the fence near a group of children who were just getting out of school, according to police.

At the time of the accident, both schools were letting students out, with many children walking in the area and parents parked in the area to pick them up, investigators said.

Lehrer has not been cited, but an investigation is underway, police said.