A 33-year-old man was killed and two others were injured, including a suspected DUI driver, in a wrong-way crash on a Tustin freeway early Friday morning.
The victim, a 33-year-old Brea resident whose name was not immediately released, died at the scene of the crash, which was reported just after 2 a.m. on the northbound Costa Mesa (55) Freeway connector to the northbound Santa Ana (5) Freeway, the California Highway Patrol reported.
His passenger, a 24-year-old woman from Burbank, was hospitalized with major injuries, said CHP Officer Tino Olivera.
The suspect, Ivan Gonzalez, 30, of Lake Forest, has a prior conviction for driving under the influence, according to Olivera.
Gonzalez was driving a 2008 Toyota Camry the wrong way at speeds of at least 100 mph and an officer who spotted him attempted to stop him, but he kept going and struck the victim’s 2000 Ford Mustang head-on, Olivera said.
The passenger in the Mustang was taken to Orange County Global Medical Center in Santa Ana, as was Gonzalez, who may be released from the hospital by Saturday, Olivera said.
The wrong-way driver is suspected of driving while intoxicated, but he has not been booked yet due to his injuries, the officer said.
—City News Service