A 21-year-old motorist suspected of driving drunk was arrested for triggering a single-vehicle crash on the Orange (57) Freeway in Anaheim Saturday that killed her passenger, a 22-year-old Hacienda Heights woman.
The crash on the northbound freeway at the Lincoln Avenue off-ramp occurred a little before 4:15 a.m., the California Highway Patrol reported.
The motorist, La Habra Heights resident Asako Bonkobara, allegedly was speeding in a white 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer when she allowed the car to drift to the right and the front of the vehicle struck a metal guardrail supported by wooden posts.
The vehicle then became airborne and the right side of the Mitsubishi struck a large metal pole supporting a green and white reflective freeway sign.
The passenger in the car was pronounced dead at the scene. Paramedics rushed Bonkobara to UC Irvine Medical Center, where she was treated for moderate injuries.
“Asako Bonkobara was determined to be under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision and was subsequently placed under arrest,” a CHP statement said.
It was not immediately known what charges Bonkobara might face, according to a CHP dispatcher.
—City News Service