Man Fleeing Police Dies in Crash

A 20-year-old motorist who was apparently trying to evade police died Saturday after crashing his truck into a tree and flipping it over, officials said.

The driver was identified as Joseph Michael Toohey of Huntington Beach.

Police Lt. Jon Arnold said that a police helicopter on routine patrol about 1 a.m. spotted a gray 1993 Toyota pickup speeding south on Golden West Street from Garfield Avenue. The vehicle ran a red light and a stop sign, Arnold said.

The helicopter followed the truck after alerting patrol cars, Arnold said. The truck then turned southeast on Pacific Coast Highway and northeast on 14th Street, traveling as fast as 70 miles per hour, police said.

At Main Street, the driver sped across the center divider north of Adams Avenue, hit the curb and then struck a tree, Arnold said. The vehicle flipped over on its roof and landed on the frontyard of a home.

“It was a pretty big tree,” Arnold said. “The truck severed the trunk of the tree.”

Toohey was found dead at the scene, police said.