Jan 11, 2009 2:34 pm US/Pacific
Police Nab 2 Survivors Running From Fatal Wreck
FULLERTON
Two fatal crashes took place on one four-mile stretch of the southbound Orange (57) Freeway just five hours apart, officials said Sunday.
A man was hit by a car on the 57 Freeway south of the Riverside (91)Freeway interchange in Anaheim at about 11:40 p.m. Saturday, according to the Orange County sheriff's coroner.
And hours later, just before sunrise, another person was killed on the southbound 57 Freeway, in a crash in Fullerton just about four miles north of the first incident. Two crash survivors were taken into police custody after they ran from the wreck, officials said.
The Orange County Register reports a second person also died at the later crash.
A California Highway Patrol dispatcher said a driver headed south on the 57 Freeway just past Imperial Highway lost control at about 4:45 a.m. The car crashed over the side of the road and overturned, trapping two people inside.
Two other people originally in the vehicle either fled or were thrown from the vehicle, the dispatcher said. Those two, whose names were withheld, were taken into police custody, the dispatcher said. The Register reported that they were the driver and one passenger and that the driver was expected to be charged with drunk driving.
The CHP dispatcher could not confirm what potential criminal charges were pending.
The Register also cited Fullerton Fire Operations Chief Gary Dominguez as saying that both people trapped in the vehicle died, while the coroner's office only noted a single fatality as of 2 p.m. Sunday.
Investigators were at the scene and the two right lanes of the freeway were still closed 8 hours later.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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