Alcohol appears to have played a role in a four-vehicle crash that killed two in Dana Point on Pacific Coast Highway, a sheriff's lieutenant said Monday.
A 43-year-old man and 42-year-old woman were killed in the crash that occurred around 1:20 p.m. Sunday near Palisades Drive at Capistrano Beach in Dana Point, Orange County sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said.
Their names were not immediately released because investigators were waiting to confirm their identities through fingerprint records, Hallock said. That was not expected to be completed until Tuesday, he added.
The 43-year-old man behind the wheel of a Volkswagen Jetta was trying to pass a 15-year-old student driver in a Mini Cooper northbound when the Volkswagen crashed into a southbound van, Hallock said. That stretch of Coast Highway is one lane in each direction.
A 49-year-old man and 50-year-old woman in the van were taken to a hospital. A 53-year-old woman in a Honda that was also involved in the crash was also taken to a hospital, Hallock said.
The teen driver was treated at the scene and released and his instructor was unharmed, Hallock said.
Hallock said investigators believe alcohol was a factor in the crash, but they were awaiting the results of toxicology tests for confirmation.
--City News Service
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