Last Updated on August 23, 2018 by CCAR Staff
IRVINE – Separate crashes involving 10 cars in all left a Chula Vista woman dead and eight others, including three children, injured Thursday morning, Aug. 23, on the southbound I-5 Freeway near the Alton Parkway exit.
The collisions were believed to have started with a crash caused by a suspected drunken driver who was injured and arrested.
Firefighters responded about 1:30 a.m. and found 10 vehicles and multiple victims near the Alton Parkway exit. The first crash was between a Dodge Challenger, driven by the suspect, and a Toyota Prius, said California Highway Patrol spokesman and Officer Florentino Olivera.
According to the CHP incident log, the Dodge had its hazard lights on and was speeding prior to the crash. Another crash occurred just minutes after the initial one in the same spot.
Three of the victims are children ages 11, 10 and six months. The six-month old was in the vehicle with the 24-year-old woman who died.
“We believe at this point that she is the mother (of the baby),” Olivera said.
The other children were in another vehicle.
The children along with five others were taken to hospitals. Olivera said they did not appear to have life-threatening injuries.
The driver, 22-year-old Nevada resident Irving Aguilar-Calixto, is suspected of DUI, according to authorities.
“He was transported to a hospital with complaints of pain, and he was evaluated by our officers and found to be DUI,” Olivera said.
Southbound lanes of the freeway were closed for several hours while the California Highway Patrol investigated the crash.
