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5 hospitalized after Santa Ana police pursuit ends in crash at Garden Grove city limit

by in News

SANTA ANA — A police pursuit in Santa Ana on Wednesday, Feb. 27, ended with a collision that left five people hospitalized, including the suspect and another driver, who were listed in critical condition.

A police officer observed a driver commit multiple traffic violations and tried to pull him over just after 4 a.m., said Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna. Instead, the driver of the Honda Civic took off, with the officer in pursuit, he said.

The chase started on 17th Street and continued as it becomes Westminster Avenue, Bertagna said. The Honda’s driver, identified as Luis Enrique Ortiz, 31, of Whittier, ran a red light at Westminster Avenue and Euclid Street and slammed into a Toyota SUV, which was southbound on Euclid, Bertagna said.

The driver of the SUV, who is in her 40s, was taken to an area hospital in critical condition, he said. Another woman in the front passenger seat of the Honda and two men in the backseat were also transported for hospital treatment of injuries of unspecified severity, Bertagna said.

  • The wreckage of a Honda sedan that slammed into an SUV after the Honda driver allegedly ran a red light near the border of Santa Ana and Garden Grove on Wednesday, Feb. 27. Police said the car’s alleged driver, Luis Enrique Ortiz, 31, of Whittier, sped away from a traffic stop, initiating a chase that sent him and four other people to the hospital. Ortiz is expected to face arrest on suspicion of felony evading, causing injury and other charges, said police. (Photo courtesy of the Santa Ana Police Department)

  • A police pursuit of a suspect who allegedly failed to yield for a traffic stop in Santa Ana on Wednesday, Feb. 27, ended at the intersection of Westminster Avenue and Euclid Street, near the Garden Grove city limit, when the driver of a Honda Civic allegedly ran a red light and slammed his car into an SUV. The sedan’s driver, Luis Enrique Ortiz, 31, of Whittier, was taken to the hospital and is expected to be arrested on suspicion of felony evading causing injury and other charges (Photo Courtesy of the Santa Ana Police Department.)

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  • A white SUV that was struck at the intersection of Westminster Avenue and Euclid Street, near the border of Garden Grove and Santa Ana, by a Honda sedan driven by the suspect in a police pursuit on Wednesday, Feb. 27. Five people were taken to the hospital as a result of the crash, including the suspect, Luis Enrique Ortiz, 31, of Whittier. (Photo courtesy of the Santa Ana Police Department)

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Police found drug paraphernalia in the Honda, according to Bertagna. When Ortiz is medically cleared, police expect to book him on on suspicion of felony evading causing injury and other charges, Bertagna said. He said Ortiz had an outstanding warrant for felony evading out of Los Angeles County.