AUGUST 17, 2009 - A woman and child were seriously injured when a tire apparently separated from its rim and their vehicle rolled over east of Imperial, authorities said. The solo-car accident happened about 7 a.m. on Highway 111 north of Harris Road, according to the California Highway Patrol. The 2000 Toyota 4Runner was carrying six passengers when the accident occurred. The two victims who were ejected were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash, authorities said. Two adult males and two other children were injured in the crash. All of the victims were transported to El Centro Regional Medical Center. The CHP is investigating the rollover crash.
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AUGUST 7, 2009 - A pair of auto burglary suspects led San Diego County sheriff’s deputies on a brief pursuit that ended with the fatal crash of the suspect’s vehicle, authorities said. The passenger, identified as 23-year-old Ceja Guillermo of Escondido, died of his injuries several hours later, according to the San Diego County Medical examiner’s office. The pursuit began when deputies were called to the parking lot of a Costco on Center Drive in San Marcos, where the suspects were allegedly burglarizing vehicles. The deputies spotted the suspect’s car near Center Drive and Nordahl Road. The vehicle, a two-door Honda, had been stolen earlier in the day in San Marcos, sheriff’s deputies said. Investigators said it appeared the driver was unfamiliar with a stick shift and he lost control of the Honda while merging onto Route 78. The car swerved off the freeway and into a drainage ditch shortly before 8 p.m., ejecting both occupants, authorities said. Guillermo died at the hospital several hours later. The driver suffered non-life threatening injuries. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the car crash.
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AUGUST 7, 2009 - A 24-year-old man died when his pickup truck struck several parked cars and then overturned in a San Diego County residential neighborhood, authorities said. John Kirk Colgan Jr. of Imperial Beach was driving on 11th Street at a high rate of speed when he struck the parked vehicles near Fern Avenue around 10 p.m., according to the San Diego County Medical examiner’s office. The impact with the parked cars caused Colgan’s truck to lose a tire and then overturn. Colgan, who was not wearing a seat belt, was partially ejected and the truck ended up on top of him, officials said. Bystanders lifted the truck off Colgan and began performing CPR before paramedics arrived and pronounced him dead at the scene, officials said. Colgan was married and had a son, authorities said. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the car accident.
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JULY 13, 2009 - A woman was ejected from a sports utility vehicle and died on a rural stretch of Interstate 8, authorities said. The unidentified woman was an unrestrained rear passenger in a GMC Envoy that was traveling west on I-8 shortly before 3 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol. A left rear tire apparently began rapidly losing air about five miles west of Dunaway Road, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle and flip over on the dirt shoulder, authorities said. Another unrestrained rear passenger was also ejected, but her injuries were not considered life-threatening. The driver of the SUV, identified as 28-year-old Honibea Danni Smith of Alpine, and a front-seat passenger were wearing seat belts and suffered only minor injuries, authorities said. The CHP is continuing its investigation into the SUV rollover.
JUNE 28, 2009 - A 14-year-old girl was injured when the vehicle she was riding in was hit from behind and overturned, authorities said. The girl was a passenger in a Honda Passport that was rear-ended in heavy traffic by a Camaro, according to an Oceanside police officer. The driver of the Camaro was traveling westbound on State Route 76 at Benet Road about 12:50 p.m. when he failed to slow in time and collided with the Honda, causing it to roll over twice. The victim was ejected from the vehicle, authorities said, and later airlifted to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla. Three other teenage occupants of the Honda suffered minor injuries and were transported to Tri-City Medical Center. The driver of the Honda and both occupants of the Camaro were uninjured, authorities said. The Oceanside Police Department is investigating the collision.
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JUNE 26, 2009 - A 45-year-old woman from Westchase, Fla. suffered major injuries when the sports utility vehicle she was riding in crashed off Interstate 8, authorities said. The crash occurred about 10 p.m. east of Dunaway Road, when the 2009 Toyota Rav 4 veered off the eastbound lanes, became airborne, struck a perimeter fence and rolled several times, coming to rest on its roof near the frontage road, according to the California Highway Patrol. The unidentified woman, who was not wearing a seat belt, was flown to the University of California San Diego Medical Center, where her condition was unknown Thursday evening. The driver of the SUV, identified as a 41-year-old man from Sierra Vista, Ariz., suffered moderate injuries and was transported to El Centro Regional Medical Center. The CHP is investigating the crash.
JUNE 7, 2009 - A 22-year-old woman died from injuries in a solo-vehicle accident, authorities said. Shannon Maureen Mahoney of Vista was riding in a car driven by a 27-year-old man from Oceanside, who was later arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter. The 2007 Ford Ranger pickup truck veered off the eastbound lanes of Highway 78 about 10:20 p.m. and overturned several times near the El Camino Real offramp, according to the medical examiner’s office. Mahoney was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle, according to the California Highway Patrol. She was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later, authorities said. Officers said the driver of the truck, Charles Lemay, was extremely emotional at the scene and tried to punch an officer, who had to subdue Lemay with a Taser. Lemay suffered minor injuries and was later booked into the Vista Detention Facility. The CHP is investigating the cause of the crash.
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JUNE 7, 2009 - A 38-year-old San Pedro woman died and her 7-year-old passenger suffered major chest injuries when their vehicle left the roadway and overturned, authorities said. The accident occurred west of Calexico as the pair were traveling east on Highway 98 about 11:20 a.m., the California Highway Patrol reported. As the driver approached a sweeping left-hand turn west of Drew Road, authorities said she failed to complete the curve in the 2009 Nissan Versa and drove off the south edge of the highway. The vehicle drove over a dirt berm and became airborne, landing in an alfalfa field and then overturning. The car came to rest on its roof, with the unrestrained driver partially ejected through the back window and pinned underneath the rear portion of the vehicle. The child was also unrestrained, authorities said, and she was found by rescuers inside the rear portion of the vehicle. The CHP is investigating the cause of the crash.
