Truck plunges into wetlands off Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach
- Share via
A solo-vehicle crash of a pickup truck into the wetlands off Pacific Coast Highway south of Warner Avenue Saturday morning was likely an accident and did not involve intoxication on the part of the driver, police reported.
The incident occurred shortly after 7:15 a.m., when police were notified that a black GMC Sierra had gone into the water, Huntington Beach police spokesperson Jessica Cuchilla confirmed Monday.
The driver, described only as a male adult, was able to extricate himself by the time first responders arrived on scene. No injuries were sustained during the incident and hospitalization was not required.
Members of Huntington Beach Fire Department’s Marine Safety Division were able to safely retrieve the submerged vehicle from the water and tow it away from the scene without closing any lanes of PCH to vehicle traffic, Cuchilla said.
Saturday’s incident occurred in roughly the same stretch of highway, about 1 mile south of Warner Avenue, where 53-year-old Heather Lewis of Long Beach died in April after her vehicle was rear-ended by a 23-year-old alleged impaired driver, becoming partially submerged.
The victim in that April 15 incident succumbed to her injuries while the driver — Long Beach resident Lukas McHargue — was found in the city of Oceanside two months later and taken into custody by Huntington Beach Police. He has been charged with one count of murder.
Cuchilla indicated investigators do not believe the driver of the black pickup truck Saturday was impaired at the time of the incident.
“It is being investigated as an accident,” she said Monday. “The driver didn’t appear to have any signs of intoxication.”
