Laguna Niguel Man Causes Power Outage, Shears Hydrant, Suspected Of DUI In RivCo Crash

LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA — A Laguna Niguel man was arrested Friday morning after crashing into an electrical utility box and shearing a fire hydrant in Murrieta. The crash caused an immediate electrical outages at numerous businesses in the Murrieta corridor.

The suspect, Johney Pool, a 22-year-old Laguna Niguel man, was arrested on scene for a suspected DUI, Sgt. Matt Schmidt told Patch.

"Pool was medically cleared at a local hospital," Schmidt said. He was booked into the Southwest Detention Center. He is slated to appear in court on May 15 to answer charges related to this incident, according to jail records.

At 4:30 a.m., a white truck driven by Pool collided with an electrical transformer and a fire hydrant, shearing the hydrant from its base and sending a skyrocketing waterspout across the sidewalk and roadway. The Murrieta police and fire responded to the scene, closing the roadway and evaluating the damage. The scene of the crash, located just outside Prestige Golf Carts and the SRCAR building.

Murrieta Fire & Rescue medics responded to the scene and addressed the sheared hydrant.

Southern California Edison worked on the subsequent power outage that affected 216 businesses and customers in the South Murrieta Business Corridor, west of I-215 and east of Adams Avenue.

Repair crews arrived by 7 a.m., and the outage was expected to last until at least 10 a.m., according to the SoCal Edison outage map.

Updates will be added to this report when they are received from both departments.