Names released in cyclist-vs-car crash

Personal Injury News

Article Date: 12/10/2009 | Resource: MLG

Names released in cyclist-vs-car crash

NEWPORT BEACH – A cyclist is in critical condition after being hit by a vehicle early today, and the driver is under arrest on suspicion of fleeing the scene, police said.

Irvine resident Donald Murphy, 49, was in the bike lane on northbound Jamboree Road near Ford Road about 6 this morning when he was hit by a Saturn Vue driven by Patricia Ann Izquieta, 37, of Riverside, authorities said.

Izquieta had made an “unsafe turning maneuver” before hitting Murphy, and she left the scene after the wreck, according to police. Minutes later, she was stopped on Bristol Street and arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run. The car had sustained damage to the windshield and front undercarriage, Newport Beach police Lt. Steve Koudelka said.

Murphy, who was wearing a helmet, was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana in critical condition. “He’s in pretty bad shape,” said Lt. Rob Morton of the Newport Beach Police Department.

The accident left a “300-yard pattern of debris,” Koudelka said. All lanes on northbound Jamboree Road near Bison Avenue were ordered closed until early afternoon for an investigation.

Westminster resident Casey Jennings said she came upon the injured cyclist almost immediately after the accident while driving up Jamboree. “I saw a body in the gutter, and realized it was obviously important,” she said.

Jennings said she stopped her truck, turned on her hazards to alert other motorists and helped one of the victim’s cycling partners perform CPR.

Murphy’s bike, she said, was not close to the scene, and his friend told her it “had been kind of pulled with the car” and that “there were sparks flying.”

After several minutes of CPR, a pulse was detected, and shortly after, paramedics arrived and took Murphy away, Jennings said.

Witnesses are asked to call Detective Bill Beverly at 949-644-3747

For more information regarding this article please contact:

Jeffrey Marquart
(949)589-0150
jmarquart@marquartlawgroup.com