A 46-year-old Cypress woman is dead after a man fleeing Tustin police officers slammed into her vehicle at a Santa Ana intersection Monday night, leaving two other occupants of her car hospitalized and the driver booked into jail. Michelle Lynn Boston later died from her injuries, according to police.
The collision happened just before 10 p.m. near the intersection of 4th Street and Golden Circle Drive, according to KTLA. At approximately 9:55 p.m., Santa Ana police received a request for assistance from the Tustin Police Department after a vehicle pursuit ended in a crash, the station reported. Tustin officers had been pursuing a vehicle driven by 21-year-old Andrew Raul Gonzalez of Downey, according to the Santa Ana Police Department, as reported by New Santa Ana.
Pursuit Ends With Deadly Impact
Gonzalez allegedly entered the intersection and collided with another vehicle traveling westbound on 4th Street, per the same account. Three people were inside that vehicle. Two of the occupants were transported to a local hospital for treatment, while Boston died at a local hospital from her injuries.
Gonzalez was arrested at the scene by Santa Ana police and booked into the Santa Ana Jail, the station's report notes. Investigators suspect impairment contributed to the collision, though they did not specify whether alcohol, drugs or both may have been involved, and the role impairment played in the crash remains under investigation. As of Tuesday evening, the Orange County District Attorney's Office had not publicly announced a criminal complaint, and no information about the charges Gonzalez may face was immediately available.
Investigation Continues, No Charges Filed Yet
The Santa Ana Police Department's Collision Investigation Unit is investigating the fatal crash. Gonzalez remains presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact SAPD Detective K. Briley at (714) 245-8215 or the SAPD Traffic Division at (714) 245-8200, according to New Santa Ana.
Fatal police pursuits and impaired-driving crashes are not uncommon in Orange County, which experiences more than 9,000 DUI arrests annually, with cities including Anaheim, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Fullerton and Orange recording high DUI-arrest activity. Statewide, the California Office of Traffic Safety reports that 1,355 people were killed in alcohol-involved crashes in 2023 — a 4.5% decrease from 2022, but nearly 55% higher than in 2014, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety. In a separate Santa Ana crash last year, two people died at the scene and five others were hospitalized in stable condition after a wrong-way collision on Main Street just north of Warner Avenue, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
