Driver arrested after deadly PCH crash sends car into wetlands

A woman was killed late Wednesday night after a suspected DUI crash along Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach sent her vehicle into nearby wetlands, police said. Officers with the Huntington Beach Police Department responded around 10:40 p.m. April 15 to a collision on Pacific Coast Highway just south of Warner Avenue involving a silver Kia Soul and a white BMW 328i. When officers arrived, they found the Kia partially submerged in the wetlands. Huntington Beach Fire Department Lifeguards assisted police in extracting a 53-year-old Long Beach woman from the vehicle. She was transported to a hospital, where she later died from her injuries, according to authorities. Investigators said the Kia had been traveling northbound on PCH when it was struck from behind by the BMW, which was also heading northbound.  The impact pushed the Kia off the roadway and into the wetlands, officials said. The driver of the BMW, a 23-year-old Long Beach man, was contacted at the scene and taken into custody without incident. Police said impairment is suspected. The crash remains under investigation by the department’s Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team. Anyone who witnessed the collision or has information about what led up to it is asked to contact HBPD Traffic Investigator V. Rattanchandani at 714-960-5231.