Accident

Two lanes of the 73 northbound freeway interchange to the 405 freeway north were shut down temporarily Friday when a car lost control and slammed into the side rail, according to the California Highway Patrol. David Han, 19, of Cerritos, was driving his blue 2003 Honda Civic at about 11:15 a.m. on the 73 freeway interchange to the 405 freeway northbound when a car next to him on the left moved into his lane, CHP officer Jennifer Hink said. Han swerved out of his lane to avoid the collision, Hink said.

A superior court judge is expected to decide this week whether jurors in the trial of a woman who lost control of her Lexus and hit and killed a Newport Beach elementary school teacher on West Coast Highway will hear evidence that the driver was distraught over the death of her husband and taking medication for anxiety and sleep disturbances at the time of the accident. Irvine resident Janene Johns, 53, was taking prescription drugs and over-the counter cough medicine to deal with the emotional aftermath of her husband’s death when her 2006 silver Lexus careened out of control and jumped the curb, killing Eastbluff Elementary School teacher Candace Tift, 31, on West Coast Highway in August 2006, Johns’ attorney Gary Pohlson claimed Monday during a motion hearing before Johns’ trial.

A psychiatrist who treated an Irvine woman two days after she was in a car accident that killed a Costa Mesa teacher testified this morning that her patient experienced psychotic episodes around that time and may have been unaware of what she was doing when she crashed her car. The defense is hoping to convince jurors that Janene Johns, 53, was unconscious in mind, not body, when she lost control of her 2006 Lexus in Aug. 23, 2006 and fatally struck...

Experienced wave rider is recovering from a spinal cord injury that nearly paralyzed him.Newport Beach local Jeremy Ross-Duggan has surfed all over the world. He's hit epic waves in Peru and tackled more than a few cliff dives. An athlete with a ferocious appetite for adventure, Jeremy Ross-Duggan admits he's done some crazy stuff in his 43 years. With all the risk-taking, Ross-Duggan never dreamed he'd come so close to a life-threatening injury while surfing one-foot waves in the ocean where he grew up. Jeremy Ross-Duggan and his close friend, Mark Schmidt, were surfing Jan. 29 near the Newport Pier when Jeremy Ross-Duggan mistakenly dove into shallow water and hit his head on a sandbar.

Newport man dies in Louisiana boat crash A Newport Beach man died this weekend after a Louisiana airboat accident. Daniele Nanna, 31, died Saturday of asphyxia due to drowning, according to the Jefferson Parish Coroner's Office in Louisiana. Nanna was one of 16 people on an airboat tour of a swamp in Crown Point, La., just south of New Orleans, said Milton Walker Jr., owner of Louisiana Swamp Tours. A second person, San Francisco resident Wan Ju Tsai Woo, 50, also died in the accident.

A jury found an Irvine woman guilty Wednesday morning in connection with a 2006 accident that killed a Costa Mesa teacher. Janene Johns, 53, was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter after hitting Candace Tift Aug. 23, 2006 with her Lexus as Tift was riding her bike. Prosecutors said Johns was on a cocktail of prescription drugs Xanax, Ambien sleeping pills and cough medicine when the accident happened. Johns' defense tried to argue that she was so grief-stricken by the death of her husband weeks before the accident that she was in an unconscious state when the accident happened, meaning she was not liable.

Local man arrested after accident A 41-year-old Costa Mesa man was arrested early Friday in Arcadia after a traffic accident that left one dead. California Highway Patrol officers arrested David Granado on suspicion of felony drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter after he was involved in an accident at 1:45 a.m. on the eastbound Foothill Freeway in Arcadia, Officer Vince Bell said. A minor accident five minutes earlier had left the victim's 1993 Honda Del Sol disabled, partially blocking the right lane of traffic, Bell said.

A 6-year-old boy was struck by a vehicle Wednesday evening, suffering serious but not life-threatening injuries, Costa Mesa police said Thursday. Lt. Bryan Glass said the accident occurred at 6:15 p.m. According to police reports, the boy was hit in the 900 block of Mission Drive. When emergency officials arrived, the boy was conscious and breathing but was bleeding from the head, police said. He reportedly suffered a broken leg during the accident and was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, police said.

A Santa Ana man was seriously injured when a motorcycle he was driving struck a curb in Newport Beach. The accident happened at about 1 p.m. Thursday as the motorcycle was driving west on Santa Barbara Drive at Bombero Street, Newport Beach police said. The 2005 Yamaha YZF600 struck a curb, ejecting the driver. Zachary Alfonso-Brady, 26, was ejected from the motorcycle near a Newport Beach fire station, Lt. Steve Shulman said. Paramedics treated Alfonso-Brady at the scene and took him to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana with head injuries.

Greg Risling A Costa Mesa driver arrested last week for running away from a traffic accident in Fountain Valley that killed three people will not face vehicular manslaughter charges, authorities said Tuesday. Police believe 42-year-old Agustin Gonzalez Galindo wasn't responsible for the accident, based on accounts from witnesses. "He [Galindo] wasn't at fault, according to the only person who saw what happened," said Fountain Valley police Lt. Dann Bean.