Woman Killed, Man Injured In Crash Down Embankment Near Mt. Helix

CASA DE ORO, CA — A 92-year-old La Mesa man was recovering at a hospital Tuesday from injuries he suffered when the car he was driving crashed down a steep roadside embankment near Mount Helix, killing a 94-year-old woman in the front passenger seat.

The crash happened shortly before 3:50 p.m. Monday on Alto Drive near La Cruz Drive in the Casa de Oro neighborhood, California Highway Patrol Officer Travis Garrow said.

The motorist was driving a 2003 Lexus ES300 sedan on a private property driveway on Alto Drive when, for unknown reasons, the car drifted off the southern edge of the driveway and struck an uphill embankment, Garrow said.

The Lexus then continued westbound across the private driveway and went down another embankment, rolling several times before coming to a rest upside down in the backyard of a home.

The passenger was pronounced dead at the scene and the driver was freed from the overturned car, then taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital for treatment of moderate injuries, the officer said.

The woman's name was withheld pending family notification, and the driver's name was not released, nor did authorities confirm whether they were related.

Intoxication was not believed to have been a factor in the crash, Garrow said.

– City News Service