Car crashes into Newport palm trees

A 25-year-old Costa Mesa man who crashed his car into two palm trees on a center divider on Superior Avenue in Newport Beach late Sunday has been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, police said Monday.

The man, who Newport Beach police declined to identify, was unconscious when a DUI enforcement vehicle discovered his badly damaged 2005 Toyota pickup truck in the road at approximately 9:30 p.m., Lt. Jim Kaminsky said.

He said that “there was circumstantial evidence that indicated that alcohol and speed were factors in this case.”

Paramedics extracted the injured man from his car and took him to Western Medical Center, where he was placed under arrest for drunk driving while he was still unconscious, Kaminsky said.

He said this type of booking is called “in absentia,” meaning “in absence,” as the man did not know he was being arrested.

The name of the man cannot be released because his family has not yet been contacted. Kaminsky said that “the investigation will continue,” and that when the medical center contacts the man’s family, his name should be released.