Woman accused of leading Laguna Beach police on pursuit charged with murder after deadly crash

A San Francisco woman who is accused of leading law enforcement on a high-speed chase last week that ended with a fatal traffic collision has been charged with murder and driving under the influence.

Ariana Joyce, 44, also faces two felony enhancements for a second offense while released from custody, and an additional enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury, per court records. The charges were brought forth on Aug. 24.

If convicted on all charges, Joyce faces 15 years to life in prison, plus four years, the Orange County district attorney’s office said in a statement. She is set to be arraigned on Sept. 18.

Joyce is accused of running a red light in Dana Point and crashing into a vehicle driven by Jason Carbonall, 23, who was killed in the collision. Carbonall’s twin brother was seriously injured, and a woman in the vehicle had minor injuries.

Laguna Beach police were involved in the reported high-speed pursuit on Aug. 19, Laguna Beach police officials said. At about 10:30 that night, an officer drove up behind an apparently disabled vehicle with its hazard lights on parked next to a red curb near the intersection of Park Avenue and Glenneyre Street.

The officer activated their emergency lights and got out of their car. When the officer knocked on the driver-side window of the parked vehicle, Joyce drove ahead to Park Avenue and Catalina Street.

Another attempt was made by the officer to contact Joyce. Laguna police said she refused to give her driver’s license to the officer and ignored an order to stay where she was.

Joyce fled westbound on Legion Street and turned onto South Coast Highway. Believing that Joyce was driving under the influence, two Laguna Beach police officers began a pursuit of the vehicle. At one point in the high-speed chase, she threw her cellphone out the window.

When the speed reportedly reached 100 miles per hour approaching Crown Valley Parkway, the watch commander ended the pursuit.

The vehicle crashed near the intersection of Coast Highway and Selva Road just minutes later. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Major Accident Reconstruction Team ran investigations of the accident and whether or not Joyce had been driving under the influence after narcotics were reportedly found in her vehicle, the Laguna Beach police statement said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Major Accident Reconstruction Team ran investigations of the accident and whether Joyce had been driving under the influence after narcotics were reportedly found in Joyce’s vehicle, the Laguna Beach police statement said.

Laguna Beach police spokesman Jim Cota said that Joyce had multiple warrants out for her arrest for failure to appear in court, and she had prior convictions for evading police. Joyce also had a restraining order against her from Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin for multiple incidents of stalking, Cota added.

Orange County district attorney spokeswoman Kimberly Edds said Joyce is being held on $2 million bail.

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