Ocean View student dies in Westminster traffic accident

Westminster police Wednesday night were investigating whether speeding or horseplay were factors in a traffic accident that claimed the life of an 18-year-old high school student.

Kody Kessler, a Westminster resident who attended Ocean View High School, was pronounced dead at the scene at Rancho Road near Spa Drive, police said. The accident occurred about 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Kessler was a passenger in the Chevrolet pickup that smashed through a chain-link fence and plunged into a flood-control channel, said Officer Van Woodson of the Westminster Police Department.

He said the driver was an 18-year-old student who attends Marina High School. Another 18-year-old Ocean View student was the second passenger in the vehicle. Both were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to Woodson.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (714) 548-3830.

Robert J. Lopez