Speeding Wrong-Way Driver Causes Fatal Wreck On 73 Freeway In Newport Beach

NEWPORT BEACH (CBSLA) – A woman was killed when a wrong-way driver traveling at speeds of about 100 miles per hour on the 73 Freeway in Newport Beach Wednesday morning caused a five-car pileup near John Wayne Airport.

California Highway Patrol reports that a Mercedes station wagon was going the wrong way on the northbound 73 Freeway just before 9 a.m. when it slammed into several cars near Campus Drive.

A 65-year-old woman in a BMW was killed instantly in a head-on collision with the Mercedes, CHP reports. Her name was not immediately released. The driver of the Mercedes, 23-year-old Luke Fitch of Newport Beach, was transported to the hospital with undisclosed injuries but is expected to survive.

Witnesses told CBS2 that the driver was swerving in between cars just seconds before the crash. One woman told CBS2 she was sideswiped by the Mercedes, then glanced in her rearview mirror and saw it collide with the BMW.

At this time, CHP investigators are treating the incident as an intentional act, which could mean the driver could face murder charges.

"We first got calls of this vehicle on actually city streets as driving recklessly," CHP Sgt. Todd Kovaletz said. "The vehicle then got on the freeway, wrong way, traveling at a high rate of speed where, unfortunately, this crash happened. So as of now, we are treating it as if it is an intentional act, homicide. As we investigate further, we'll decide whether or not it'll be an intentional act or collision."

In total, there were six people in the five cars involved in the wreck. Aerial footage from the scene showed the Mercedes and the BMW with significant front end damage, along with metal and debris strewn across the roadway.

Several lanes of the northbound 73 Freeway were blocked for several hours Wednesday morning.

It's unclear whether drugs or alcohol contributed to the wreck.