Articles Posted in Uncategorized

A Costa Mesa car accident that began with a car spinning out of control on Harbor Boulevard and ending up on Merrimac Way near Adams Avenue and Fair Drive recently injured five people, according to an article in The Orange County Register.

Garden Grove resident Tomas Narciso Torres, a 26-year-old man and four other male passengers were speeding northbound on Harbor Boulevard in a Dodge Neon sedan, when they decided to change lanes to pass a slower vehicle and then lost control. Police said Torres had overcorrected the steering making the car veer across the traffic lanes, hitting a tree and a parked SUV before landing on its roof. The auto wreck injured only the Neon’s five occupants, all in their 20s. Their wounds ranged from minor to major. Torres who has a prior DUI conviction was later arrested on suspicion of felony DUI.

I deeply sympathize with the injured young men and am saddened by their unnecessary suffering. I wish them a speedy recovery.
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Michelle Kermani, a 20-year-old woman from Newport Beach, was injured in a DUI rear end car crash reportedly caused by 41-year-old Jean Bower, principal of Westwood Basics Plus Elementary School in Irvine, according to a recent MSNBC news report.

Officials suspect Bower was driving under the influence of alcohol and crashed her Lexus IS200 into Kermani’s Hyundai Tiburon on Jamboree Road in Irvine near the intersection of San Joaquin Hills Road and Eastbluff Drive. Phillip Okura, 21, a Newport Beach resident, was Kermani’s only passenger. Newport Beach Police spokesman Evan Sailor said Bower was arrested after field sobriety tests. Kermani had reportedly complained of neck pain.

In California, it is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol level of .08 or more. If it is determined that Ms. Bower was driving under the influence of alcohol, she will face criminal DUI charges.
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A two-vehicle collision in Palm Springs at the intersection of Ramon Road and El Placer, near Palm Springs International Airport has injured four of its occupants, according to a recent report in the Press-Enterprise.

The crash involved a BMW and a pickup truck at the intersection leaving the truck wrapped around a traffic signal. Police Sgt, John Fallon said the driver of the BMW that was also badly damaged, fled on foot after the accident. The injuries in this car accident ranged from moderate to major and the injured have been taken to the Desert Regional Medical Center, according to Battalion Chief Austin Smith of the Palm Springs Fire Department. It is not clear what caused the accident, but officials are still investigating the case.

I trust the Palm Springs police will identify BMW’s driver and learn more about the cause of this car crash. I would venture to guess that the BMW driver will be held responsible for the accident and charged with “hit and run” for leaving the scene of an auto accident.
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A car spun out of control on Merrimac Way near Adams Avenue and Fair Drive recently, and caused a horrific wreck, according to an article in The Orange County Register.

Garden Grove resident Tomas Narciso Torres, and four other male passengers were speeding northbound on Harbor Boulevard in a Dodge Neon sedan when they decided to change lanes to pass a slower vehicle and then lost control. Police said Torres had overcorrected the steering, making the car veer across the traffic lanes, hitting a tree and a parked SUV before landing on its roof. The orange county auto wreck injured only the Neon’s five occupants, all in their 20s. Their wounds ranged from minor to major. Torres who has a prior DUI conviction was later arrested on suspicion of felony DUI.
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The Mission Viejo/Saddleback Valley Elks Lodge is graciously helping 24-year-old Maya Oliver, who is in dire need of money for a prosthetic leg, according to an article in The Orange County Register.

Oliver suffered severe injuries in a Mission Viejo car accident last January. Her left leg had to be amputated from the knee down and what’s worse; Oliver does not have medical insurance.

We commend the Elks Lodge and other members of the Orange County community, including Rod Cuervo from Mission Prosthesis, who is donating his time to help Oliver with her prosthetic leg. We can only imagine what Oliver and her family must be going through at this time with mounting medical bills and little or no money to pay for them. At Bisnar Chase Personal Injury Attorneys, we have represented thousands of auto accident victims over the last 30 years. Some of them suffer minor to moderate injuries, others are hurt severely and suffer catastrophic injuries.
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Chuck Gordillo, 50 years-old, of Costa Mesa, California, died recently after being struck by a car on the 10 Freeway near Haven Avenue in San Bernardino County. According to an article in The Orange County Register.

The Orange County resident was eastbound on the San Bernardino Freeway towing a trailer with a car on it. The hood of the towed car flew off and landed on the shoulder of the freeway prompting Gordillo to stop to retrieve it. A car that tried to avoid stopped freeway traffic swerved onto the shoulder hitting Gordillo, according to the Register.

This is a very tragic and unfortunate car accident. My condolences are with the Gordillo’s family and friends. Please let this accident be a reminder to us all of how dangerous it is go be out of a vehicle on a freeway, no matter where.

The California Highway Patrol is investigating this collision and will be issuing a Traffic Collision Report. In cases of traffic fatalities, like this one, the CHP is really good at thorough investigations; therefore it may take a few weeks to a few months for their Report to be issued.
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A terrible auto accident involving 6 vehicles at the Crenshaw Boulevard and Florence Avenue intersection Monday evening has killed five people and injured 16, according to a news report in The Los Angeles Times.

Karen Smith, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman stated the collision occurred as a westbound van on Florence hit a speeding van on Crenshaw that had just run a red light. The impact of the crash threw the speeding van that had been speeding into the air and triggered the multiple auto wreck, the news article said.

The extent of the damage caused by the irresponsible and reckless driver who ran the red light was illustrated by the more than 100 firefighters who responded to the car crash and the team of emergency workers who had to section off space for a triage. My heart goes out to all those injured and to the families of those whose lives were lost in this tragedy.

Sadly, when a person behind the wheel chooses to ignore some of the basic laws required to drive a vehicle, the price paid for that action can be enormous. It is not known at the time of this story if the offending driver survived the auto crash. However, if he did, due to the magnitude of this incident he’ll be made to realize the impact of his poor decision in ways he probably could never have imagined.
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Maria Magdalena Lewis, a 71-year-old Garden Grove woman is dead after her Honda Accord was struck by another driver who police say was driving under the influnce of alcohol and ran a red light. According to an article in The Orange County Register, Lewis was driving home from her job at the Angel stadium when she was hit by 45-year-old Miguel Angel Gallardo of Anaheim, who was driving a GMC Yukon.

Lewis reportedly died on the scene, and a passenger who was with her in the Honda suffered injuries. Gallardo has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter. Police say Gallardo also ran a red light at the intersection of Orangewood Avenue and 9th Street in Anaheim as he struck Lewis’ vehicle.

My heart goes out to Lewis’ family. This was an unnecessary, and senseless tragedy – one of many drunk driving accidents in Orange County, which have led to the loss of a life. It is another reminder to all drivers out there to refrain from drinking and driving. It is not only illegal but just plain irresponsible. Not only do drunk drivers put others in serious danger, but they also risk their own life and well-being.

A 38-year-old Bakersfield woman was killed and another man suffered major injuries after they stopped on Highway 99 and were struck by a delivery van as they talked to the driver of a big rig. According to an article in the Bakersfield Californian, Tracy Huffman was taken to a local hospital where she died and her fiancé was said to have suffered severe injuries.

The couple reportedly got out of their vehicle after motioning a big rig driver to stop because they saw something dragging under the rear trailer. Officials said the man, who was driving at the time, got out to warn the big rig driver and Huffman followed him. At this time, a delivery van driven by Darren Tolliver of South Pasadena struck the couple. Tolliver took his eyes off the road to pick up a clipboard for just a second when the van veered to the right and sideswiped the big rig striking the man and Huffman.
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A Costa Mesa couple in their late 60s died after the driver lost control of his 2005 Chevy Malibu, a news article in The Orange County Register reports. The auto accident, which killed 69-year-old Jack Henderson and his wife, Carolyn Henderson, 65, occurred on Newport Boulevard after the husband exited the 55 Freeway near Fair Drive and merged on to Newport, the article said.

The car reportedly crashed into a chain link fence, clipped some trees and rolled down an embankment back onto the freeway. Carolyn Henderson died on the scene while her husband was transported to Hoag Hospital where he later died, the Register reports. The grandparents were on the way to babysit their grandchildren when the tragic accident occurred.

Eyewitnesses reportedly saw the Chevy Malibu veer off the 55 freeway, become airborne from Newport Boulevard and flip at least twice down the embankment before coming to rest on the freeway. This is no doubt a huge tragedy for the family and we offer our deepest condolences to them during this very tough time. Investigators have already started looking into possible causes for the crash. Witnesses report speeding and that Henderson merged onto Newport at a high rate of speed.
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