Accident

The absolute worst part of a reporter's life? Being sent to interview friends and relatives of someone who just died — usually in accidents or by the hands of others. My heart would pound as I knocked on the front door of a family whose father or mother, sister or brother had just died in a newsworthy way. Would a grieving relative berate me for my insensitivity? I would if I were on the other side of the door. Would I be the latest in a long line of journalists turned away?

A woman who was hit by a car Thursday morning on Wilson Street just east of Harbor Boulevard suffered life-threatening injuries, police said. Police were not sure of her condition as of 11 a.m., but she may have died, investigators said. When police arrived at the intersection at about 9 a.m. the woman was lying on the road, bleeding from her ears and mouth, Sgt. Zack Hoferitza said. She was rushed to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana. Police conducted a sobriety test on the driver and found he was not intoxicated at the time of the crash, Hoferitza said.

A 2003 graduate of Estancia High School died early Sunday morning after a traffic accident in Arvada, Colo. Brian "Bubba" Kapko, 19, was traveling to Denver with four other people after a volleyball tournament in Boulder. Kapko, a student at Johnson & Wales University in Denver, was the only person to die in the accident. Kris Hartwell, also an Estancia High graduate, was in the vehicle with Kapko. Hartwell's mother, Kathy Hartwell, said her son sustained a broken thumb.

While on their way to see their daughter play a lacrosse game in Arizona, Kathy and Dan Murphy’s car blew a rear tire, sending the car into a violent roll, flipping into a ditch beside the I-10 freeway. The exchange student riding in the car was thrown from the vehicle and lived. Dan received minor injuries, but Kathy was seriously hurt. Her skull was crushed, she had cervical fractures, nerve damage, and her brain was pushed to one side. She fell into a coma on April 6 last year — it was Good Friday.

About three weeks after a rollover truck accident that narrowly missed being fatal, Newport Beach officials have taken a number of steps to increase safety at Newport Coast Drive and Pelican Hill Road, and they're working on doing more. In the Feb. 2 accident, a cement truck tipped during a right turn from Newport Coast Drive onto Pelican Hill Road North. It was the fifth such accident in the area since July 2004 and the second at that intersection, and residents told the City Council safety has long been an issue there.

Amy R. Spurgeon COSTA MESA -- A motorist traveling eastbound in a blue pickup on Bay Street between Newport and Harbor boulevards at sundown Sunday tagged a gold Ford Tempo, which was exiting from a private driveway, forcing the mid-size car into a line of parked cars, which in turn pinned a screaming female pedestrian in between two cars. The woman was transported to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana with substantial injuries, according to Costa Mesa Sgt. Tim Schennum.

An elderly man seriously injured in a car accident over the weekend is expected to live, police said Monday. About 11:09 p.m. Saturday police were called to Newport Boulevard and 17th Street where a 73-year-old woman had apparently hit 71-year-old James Casey, who had stepped onto the street. Police said witnesses described seeing Casey walk off the center divider at the intersection westbound on 17th Street, directly into crossing southbound traffic on Newport Boulevard. He was hit by Sheldon Dobkins’ 2008 silver Honda Accord.

A Costa Mesa man died after an attempted cliff dive went wrong Saturday in Arizona. John Kissel, 43, was cliff diving in a cove called Copper Canyon when he missed the water after jumping from a 200-foot point, said Jodi Miller, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff. “According to bystanders, he was attempting to jump off one of the points,” Miller said. Emergency responders were called to the scene, where they pronounced Kissel dead at 4:37 p.m, Miller said.

Greg Risling An unidentified bicyclist remained in critical condition Tuesday after he was struck by an oncoming car in Costa Mesa late Monday night. Police said they do not know the name of the man, reported to be in his 20s, because he wasn't carrying any identification at the time of the accident. What police do know is at about 11:15 p.m. Monday, a 30-year-old Costa Mesa woman was driving southbound on West 17th Street when her vehicle struck the bicyclist, who was attempting to cross the six-lane street near Fullerton Avenue.

-- Greg Risling COSTA MESA -- A 47-year-old Huntington Beach man remains in grave condition after he was struck by a slow-moving car Tuesday morning while he was crossing a street. Daniel Marr suffered major head injuries after hitting his head on the concrete as a result of the accident. The driver of the vehicle, 40-year-old Steven Timothy Edgar of Hesperia, may face vehicular manslaughter charges pending a police investigation. The accident occurred shortly after 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of Park Center and Town Center drives.

A GPS device from the doomed racing boat Aegean struck a jagged island, an online tracking system shows. The sailing community was buzzing with the news Tuesday, as racers emailed a link to Spot, a personal satellite tracking company, and speculated anew about the original theory of the accident. Up to now, many thought that the 37-foot Aegean was struck by a larger commercial vessel, such as a tanker or freighter. The accident claimed four sailors' lives Saturday during the annual Newport-to-Ensenada race.

A lot has happened since UC Irvine psychology grad Shane Del Rosario last stepped into the Octagon for real. It was February of 2011 when he submitted Lavar Johnson in a Strikeforce heavyweight bout, and Del Rosario seemed to be on the mixed martial arts fast track. But a car accident a couple months later caused a back injury that kept the former Dana Hills High basketball player on the shelf for nearly eight months. He eventually returned to the gym at Team Oyama MMA and Fitness in Irvine, and got back to work.

The emotionally charged message delivered to several hundred students and parents at Corona del Mar High School's gymnasium Wednesday morning was clear: Accidents happen, but those involving drinking and driving are entirely preventable. Guest speaker Gloria Morales, 33, closed the school's Every 15 Minutes program. Her 17-year-old daughter, Crystal Morales, suffered life-threatening injuries after being hit by a car driven by an allegedly impaired driver. "Immediately, when I found out the details of the accident, it broke my heart and it killed me," Morales said to the students.

The scene opens on images of twisted metal, deflated airbags and glass on asphalt. What resembles the opening scenes of the California Highway Patrol's "Red Asphalt," meant to deter drunk and irresponsible driving, is actually a new public service announcement produced by the city of Irvine to deter drivers from running red lights. According to information provided by the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), Irvine ranks third in Orange County cities in the number of collisions and victims, where the primary factors in the collisions were missed signals or signs.

Friends of a 17-year-old girl hit by an allegedly intoxicated driver in December are organizing two events to raise money for her recovery. FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version incorrectly called Vanessa Orellana a show organizer. Carlos Najera should have been listed as the organizer of the February benefit show for Crystal Morales. Also, the band's name is MBD, not MBA. From 5 to 9 p.m. Jan. 28, 15% of the sales at Plums Cafe, 369 E. 17th Street, Costa Mesa, will be donated to Newport Harbor High School senior Crystal Morales, said her friend, Alexandra Holbrook.

A visiting Taiwanese family whose rental car was pushed off the Balboa Island Ferry and into the harbor Friday morning will have the cost of their car refunded, authorities said. Sean Busking, vice president of Fox Rent A Car - which has rental locations at airports worldwide and locally, including at John Wayne Airport and LAX - said in a phone interview Monday that the company decided to give a full refund to the Changs for the period they rented their Dodge minivan. He also said the company offered to give them a free rental for the duration of their vacation, although they have since found other accommodations.

The director of a UC Irvine medical facility died of drowning after blunt-force trauma to her head, but the manner in which she died remains unknown, according to a county coroner's report. Dr. Marianne Cinat, 45, was found dead in her pool at her Rossmoor home in June. Cinat was a prominent Orange County surgeon and served as medical director for the UCI Regional Burn Center in Orange until her death. The coroner's report says there were abrasions to Cinat's forehead and nose, and hemorrhaging at the front and crown of her head.

Newport Harbor senior Crystal Morales' life changed dramatically Tuesday as she was walking home from school. Just last week, Morales wrapped up an intense project as an editor and actor in a short student film. On Tuesday, the shy and creative teen was critically injured in a suspected DUI crash. The 17-year-old is scheduled to graduate this spring and possibly enroll in Orange Coast College culinary classes or in film courses, said her mother, Gloria Morales. Speaking from Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where Crystal is in a medically induced coma, Gloria's voice breaks up as she talks about her daughter.

Shane Del Rosario was on the fast track. The UC Irvine grad with a degree in psychology had been a surfer and basketball player at Dana Hills High, but went into the gym while in college and became a Muay Thai heavyweight kickboxing champion. He slowly — and somewhat reluctantly — began to embrace the ground game, improving his jiu-jitsu and wrestling skills, which led him to a Strikeforce contract and a potential path to mixed martial arts stardom. He was 11-0 in his MMA career, had just beaten the respected Lavar Johnson and was the first alternate in Strikeforce's Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament.

A 46-year-old Costa Mesa woman was killed Sunday night in Rancho Cucamonga after the car she was riding in lost control, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said in a news release. The woman, whose name has not been released pending notification of next of kin, was a passenger in a 2005 Mercedes E500 going southbound on Interstate 15 just south of the 210 Freeway when the driver lost control and slammed into the cement shoulder about 11:50 p.m. Both the driver and passenger were rushed to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, where the Costa Mesa woman succumbed to her injuries.