Vehicles

A car crash near the playground at Eastbluff Elementary School hit close to home for many students and parents Tuesday morning. Tire marks leading to a wrecked white Toyota sport utility vehicle, parked half on the street and half on a sidewalk where many parents walk their children to school, greeted students arriving around 8 a.m. The car careened through an area in front of the school that bustles with children on school days. “If it would have happened just 15 minutes later, what would have happened would be shocking,” said Beverly McMullen, whose 7-year-old daughter is in second grade at Eastbluff.

A 13-year-old boy remained hospitalized Saturday after being hit by a vehicle Friday evening near West Balboa Boulevard and 32nd Street, Newport Beach Police Sgt. Jeff Freeman said. Sometime between 7 and 8 p.m. Friday, the boy was crossing the street against the light or in an area without a light, Freeman said, and the driver did not see him until it was too late. The boy suffered head injuries and is "hanging in there," Freeman said, although the night of the injury his condition was questionable.

Authorities recovered money that was stolen Tuesday morning from a Costa Mesa bank, a spokeswoman for the FBI confirmed Wednesday. Police recovered a number of large and small bills from two suspects who were arrested Tuesday and found additional money in their car, said spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. Bystanders returned bills thrown out of the fleeing car. Eimiller said police did not know yet how much money had been reclaimed. “They got away with large and small bills, so we haven’t totally evaluated the sum that was taken,” she said.

A checkpoint looking for drunk drivers in Costa Mesa resulted in three arrests this weekend, police said. The Costa Mesa Police Department set up a checkpoint Friday at the intersection of Baker and Bear streets, according to a department press release. The checkpoint screened 318 vehicles. Three people were arrested on suspicion of DUI, nine citations were issued and six vehicles were impounded. “This checkpoint was one of many that have been or will be conducted throughout the year in the city of Costa Mesa,” Sgt. David Makiyama, a police spokesman, said in a statement.

COSTA MESA – Four police vehicles surrounded a car and two officers drew their guns Friday after a person ran away from a traffic stop. The incident occurred about 4:30 p.m. at Fairview Road and Baker Street. A police officer saw a car with a vehicle violation and attempted to pull the car over when one person in the car got out and ran away, said Costa Mesa Police Department Lt. Bob Ciszek. Three people were arrested for possession of prescription drugs, Ciszek said.

A 22-year-old woman was taken to the hospital with major head trauma after she was struck by a vehicle Saturday morning, police said. The woman was crossing the street outside a crosswalk north of the intersection of Newport Boulevard and Industrial Way about 1:11 a.m. when a vehicle struck her, according to Costa Mesa Sgt. Brent McKinley. The cause of the accident remains under investigation, and anyone with information is asked to call Traffic Investigator Rick Cummings at (714)

Newport Beach's SWAT team used 40 mm rubber bullets to subdue a Bellflower woman who they said refused to obey officers' commands after a short vehicle pursuit Friday night. Kelly Sheree Taylor, 48, was arrested on suspicion of evading arrest and driving under the influence of drugs by Newport Beach police after she refused to stop and drove south, police said. After police tried to stop her car in Newport Beach, she fled into Laguna Beach and eventually stopped but did not respond when officers ordered out of the car, police said.

An allegedly impaired driver was arrested after a car collided with a bicycle, Newport Beach police said Friday. About 9:30 a.m., a vehicle and bicyclist crashed in the 600 block of Bayside Drive, according to Sgt. Doug Jones. The bicyclist's injuries were relatively minor, Jones said. — Lauren Williams Twitter: @lawilliams30

-- Lolita Harper Costa Mesa will host a town hall meeting tonight regarding recreational vehicles before returning the long-debated issue to the City Council for final action. The meeting will focus on proposed regulation for recreational vehicles on public streets and seeks to gain public input on a proposed law that is pending formal approval by the council. Over the past six months, the City Council has considered various regulations to reduce the number of recreational vehicles parked on public streets.