Single-vehicle Newport Beach crash kills one, injures another; several streets closed

NEWPORT BEACH — One person was killed and another person injured in a violent, high-speed, single-vehicle crash Tuesday morning in Newport Beach.

The crash occurred near 23rd Street and Balboa Boulevard about 1:15 a.m.

A witness told a news photographer at the scene the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed along Balboa Boulevard when Newport Beach police attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver fled and crashed into a pole in a center divider, splitting the vehicle in half and ejecting the vehicle’s engine, which struck a nearby parked SUV.

It was unclear if police were in pursuit of the vehicle at the time of the crash.

The California Highway Patrol closed several streets in the area for an investigation into the crash. The closures are:

— Balboa Boulevard between 22nd and 24th streets

— 23rd Street, just west of Oceanfront

— Oceanfront between 21st and 23rd streets

— 22nd and 24th streets in both directions