Manhunt On for Killer Hit and Run Driver

A search involving helicopters, bloodhounds and law enforcement officers was underway today for a motorist who fled from the site of a fatal collision in Irvine, authorities said.

A 54-year-old woman was killed and three people, including two young children, were seriously injured in the three-vehicle hit-and-run collision, said Irvine Police Department spokeswoman Farrah Emami.

The collision occurred around 9 p.m. Wednesday at the intersection of Muirlands Boulevard and Alton Parkway, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Larry Kurtz said.

The woman killed was the driver of a white Chevrolet SUV, Kurtz said. A woman passenger and 3- and 6-year-old children were taken to trauma centers, he said.

The injured remain in serious condition, Emami said.

The driver of the second vehicle, a 30-year-old woman, was also briefly hospitalized.

The unidentified driver of the third vehicle, a black Mustang, fled the scene, Kurtz said.

Around 20 Irvine police officers were searching for the suspect, along with helicopters from the California Highway Patrol and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Emami said. Bloodhounds from the sheriff’s department and a police dog from the Tustin Police Department were assisting, Emami said.

The collision occurred within the area of the now shuttered El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

City News Service