Crashes Kill 1, Injure 3 on Freeways

Two unrelated accidents on county freeways Thursday morning left one man dead and several people injured, California Highway Patrol officials said.

A 61-year-old Orange man was killed about 10 a.m. when his car careened across four lanes and plummeted 75 feet down an embankment into a drainage ditch on the westbound Garden Grove Freeway near the San Diego Freeway, said Officer Jeff Giovinetti.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The coroner’s office did not release his name, pending notification of his relatives.

Giovinetti said investigators have found no reason for the accident. Alcohol does not seem to have played a part, he said.

The driver was a courier for a pharmacy and was making deliveries at the time of the crash, Giovinetti said. He was wearing his seat belt.

Earlier Thursday, a pileup on the Santa Ana Freeway near 1st Street led to the felony drunk-driving arrest of Larry Valenzuela, 19, of National City. Officials said Valenzuela was driving south in the carpool lane shortly after 7 a.m. when he lost control of his Honda Accord and veered across all four lanes of traffic. He was traveling at about 80 mph, authorities said.

The Accord struck a pickup driven by Martin Cheney, 22, of Prescott, Ariz., pushing it into another lane. A Nissan Maxima that had slowed to avoid the collision was rear-ended by another pickup.

The Accord then careened into two more cars--a minivan and a sports car--before finally coming to a stop at the side of the freeway, the CHP said.

Valenzuela was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana. Hospital officials would not release his condition, citing the pending police investigation. Valenzuela’s passenger, Mario Rodriguez of San Diego, was taken to UCI Medical Center for multiple lacerations to his face, said Kim Lachance, hospital spokesperson.

Cheney was also taken to UCI Medical Center as a precaution, having suffered bruises on his back and head.