Police arrest man in fatal accident

A Costa Mesa man was booked on suspicion of murder and driving under the influence early Sunday after police said he drunkenly ran a red light and broadsided a Toyota Corolla, killing the passenger.

Gustavo Adrian Vega, 22, had already gotten into a traffic accident in Santa Ana before the fatal wreck at Sunflower Avenue and Sakioka Drive in Costa Mesa about 2:30 a.m., police said.

Authorities said Vega was speeding southbound on Flower Street from the Santa Ana crash when he ran the red light at Sunflower Avenue, broadsiding Hao A. Nguyen’s 2008 Corolla, which was heading west.

Vega’s 2008 white Toyota Tundra hit the passenger side and killed Cara A. Lee, 20, from Sana Ana. She was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Vega suffered minor scrapes and was arrested on suspicion of murder, driving under the influence, felony hit-and-run and possession of a controlled substance. He is scheduled to be in court Thursday and is being held in lieu of $1.05-million bail. Nguyen suffered minor scrapes and was also arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. He was later released from Santa Ana’s Western Medical Center.

There were 47 alcohol-related crashes in Costa Mesa in 2009, with 59 injuries and two deaths. There were four DUI-related crashes in Costa Mesa in January with five injuries, police said.