A 41-year-old Newport Beach man could face charges of driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident after his SUV crashed several times along Coast Highway this morning, hitting signs, trees and a city bench before ending up inside the front doors of the Crystal Lotus psychic shop. Damage to the shop at 3100 East Coast Highway was about $75,000, fire officials said.
The incident occurred about 5:30 a.m. today when a man driving a 2009 Cadillac Escalade was driving westbound on East Coast Highway west of Marguerite Avenue, said Lt. Craig Fox of the Newport Beach Police Department. The man drove onto the sidewalk on the north side of Coast Highway, hitting a sign, a tree and a planter in front of Directors Financial Group at 3242 East Coast Highway.
“He then reentered PCH westbound, and a few blocks later, left the roadway again onto the north sidewalk of PCH, this time colliding with a sign, tree, and the (Crystal Lotus) building,” Fox said.
The driver denied he was injured and did not want to be taken to a hospital, said Jennifer Schulz of the Newport Beach Fire Department. The man was arrested at the scene, Fox said, on suspicion of DUI. He could face hit-and-run charges because he left the scene of the initial crash into the sign and planter box.
East Coast Highway was closed northbound for more than an hour between Marguerite and Jasmine avenues. City engineers arrived at 5:45 to inspect the building, said Tara Finnigan, a Newport Beach spokeswoman.
“The building was posted ‘yellow” with restrictions to stay away from the broken store front glass, with no other hazard,” she said.
The black vehicle was about a quarter of the way into the building; crews pulled it out and towed it, and fire crews helped remove debris and a city bench.
“After the vehicle was removed, we installed a spot shore to help support a structural, load-bearing beam,” Schulz said.
The building’s owner arrived, and a private company was hired to clean up and secure the property.
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