Crash Near Crush Leaves 3 Injured

A dramatic two-car accident on the Santa Ana Freeway late Sunday afternoon sent three people to the hospital and snarled traffic near the Orange Crush for hours.

The crash occurred about 4 p.m. when a 29-year old Newport Beach woman lost control of her Ford Mustang. The car was airborne briefly and crossed five lanes of traffic as she entered the southbound freeway at Main Street in Santa Ana.

Her car came to a stop facing the wrong direction on the freeway and was broadsided by a Honda Civic driven by a 25-year-old Santa Ana man going about 65 mph.

CHP officials said they did not know how fast the Mustang’s driver was going when she entered the freeway.

Neither driver suffered serious injuries, according to CHP officials, and neither was cited. A 26-year-old female passenger in the Honda Civic suffered moderate leg injuries.

The three victims--who were all wearing seat belts at the time of the crash--were taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, where hospital officials declined to comment.

California Highway Patrol officials did not release the victims’ names.

The crash closed two lanes of traffic for three hours, near the busy convergence of the Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Orange freeways.

Six patrol units responded to the accident.