Man Dies, Son Hurt After Car Flips Over

A San Diego man suspected of drunk driving was seriously injured and his father killed after their vehicle hit a curb at the end of the Hueneme Beach Park parking lot, flipped several times and burst into flames on the beach, authorities said.

Police said Eric Chase, 25, was driving southbound on Ventura Road about 10 p.m. Saturday with his father, Douglas, 48, at a high rate of speed. The vehicle went through the intersection at Surfside Drive and continued into the beach parking lot, police said.

The car then ran over a curb, hit a post and became airborne. The car flipped over five or six times and landed 300 feet onto the beach, said Port Hueneme Police Sgt. Chris Graham.

Witnesses pulled the men from the car before it became engulfed in flames.

The elder Chase, also from San Diego, was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, where he died of his injuries, said a spokesman with the Ventura County coroner’s office.

Eric Chase suffered a broken back and collar bone. He was airlifted to Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura, where he is listed in fair and stable condition.