Search on for 3rd driver after freeway death

Deepa Bharath

California Highway Patrol officers are looking for a hit-and-run

driver who may have caused an accident on the northbound Costa Mesa

Freeway that killed a 26-year-old Costa Mesa man and snarled traffic

for hours in both directions, officials said.

Three vehicles were involved in the accident, CHP officer Stacy

Willits said. The incident unfolded after the driver of a Ford

Explorer made an unsafe lane change, triggering the chain reaction,

she said.

“The other drivers reacted to this person when he made the lane

change,” Willits said.

James Jerome Snyder, who was driving a 2000 Chevy Blazer, was

struck by another car driven by Rogelio Mora of Costa Mesa, she said.

Mora, reacting to the Explorer’s lane change, swerved and hit

Snyder’s car.

Snyder’s Blazer overturned several times and came to a stop upside

down on the freeway, Willits said.

Snyder, who was not wearing his safety belt, was ejected onto the

freeway. He was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where

he died, Orange County coroner’s office officials said. An autopsy is

scheduled for today.

A SigAlert was issued for more than 2 1/2hours.

“Traffic was affected big time,” Willits said.

Only two lanes were closed on northbound Costa Mesa Freeway, but

it also caused traffic to back up on the southbound side because the

vehicle came to rest in the carpool lane, she said.

Anyone with information about the collision or the hit-and-run

driver, who is described only as “driving a newer Ford Explorer,” is

asked to call the CHP’s Accident Investigation department at (714)

567-6000.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].