3 Crashes Injure Lake Forest Drivers

As if the rain and a  weren't enough, three injury accidents also took place Monday morning in Lake Forest.

The most serious crash, which temporarily closed down westbound Lake Forest Drive from Trabuco Road to Chinook, sent two people to the hospital.

At least three vehicles were involved in the crash, which was reported at 11:10 a.m., police said.

Motorist Juan Garcia was heading east in a 1998 Chevy Blazer on Lake Forest Drive at Chinook at the time of the crash. Rhonda Mahcheck was headed north on Chinook in a 2002 Lexus. A third driver, Emerlina Bayna Morales, was sitting in the lefthand turn lane on Lake Forest Drive in a Ford Focus, waiting to turn onto Chinook.

Police and the Orange County Fire Authority responded to the accident, eventually having to cut into one of the vehicle to pry out its occupant.

Garcia and Mahcheck were sent to an area hospital with minor injuries, police said.

One of the drivers is suspected to have run the red light at the intersection, though its unclear as of yet who it was, according to police.

At about the same time, police responded to a two-vehicle crash at the El Toro and Trabuco roads intersection.

One vehicle rear-ended another stopped at the intersection. Both drivers complained of pain; one went to the hospital, according to police. The identity of the people involved in the crash, which was reported at 10:55 a.m., were not available.

The cause of the crash is under investigation, with speed seen as a probable cause of the collision, according to police.

Much earlier Monday morning, a Portola Hills man drove off an embankment and rolled his car.

Ryan Anthony Chavez, 27, told police that he had been distracted by an argument with his girlfriend that he had been having by text message.

Chavez was driving east on Glenn Ranch Road approaching Definition when he swerved, hitting the curb, grazing a light pole and driving over an embankment.

His car rolled at least once, according to police. Chavez refused medical treatment. The crash was reported at 6:20 a.m., police said.