Police: Man drove into wall

Officials said they are waiting to notify the next of kin before identifying a Costa Mesa driver who died Sunday night when he sped his Toyota Corolla into a cinder block wall on Placentia Avenue across from Estancia High School in Costa Mesa.

Police said the man, 49, was seen by witnesses speeding by cars northbound on Placentia Avenue and in one case, driving on the wrong side of the road. Passing Joann Street, the driver failed to follow the left curve on Placentia Avenue between Estancia High School on the left and a Costa Mesa Fire Station on the right, police said.

What’s left at the scene of the crash tells the rest. About 10:30 p.m. Sunday, the Corolla jumped the east curb in front of the fire station, passed over the driveway and onto the station’s front lawn before barreling directly into the cinder block wall dividing the station and the neighboring city property. Concrete and red paint were slashed from the curb where the Corolla jumped it, and a series of skids and torn-up grass along the lawn trace the path the car took straight into the wall.

Firefighters only feet from the crash rushed to the scene to help the man, but found he had already succumbed to his injuries. Coroner officials said the car flipped onto its hood after the collision. There were no skid marks on the street to indicate the driver tried to stop before jumping the curb.

The driver was killed instantly, officials said. He was not wearing his seat belt, police said.