Street Closed by 5-Vehicle Accident; 4 Injured

Five vehicles collided on rainy Westminster Avenue in Seal Beach Thursday evening, forcing closure of the road for more than an hour as paramedics tried to free accident victims.

Four people were injured in the pileup, which occurred about 5:50 p.m. between Seal Beach Boulevard and Bolsa Chica Road when a car driven by Frank Tarr, 75, of Seal Beach crossed the center divider of the rain-slick street and sideswiped a pickup truck, police said.

The pickup, driven by David Lee, 26, of Garden Grove, slammed sideways into another eastbound car, driven by Joan Murphy, 32, of Huntington Beach, which spun off the road and into a chain-link fence.

Traci Sever, 20, of Cerritos was traveling in the same direction as the pickup and sideswiped Tarr’s car when it skidded sideways into her path. Another car driven by David Tracy, 25, of Huntington Beach, struck Tarr’s car head-on.

Orange County Fire Department personnel worked nearly 10 minutes with a hydraulic device to free Tarr and his passenger, Silva Roberts, 75, of Seal Beach, from the car. Because Roberts had not been wearing a seat belt, she was trapped under the dash of the car, Seal Beach police officers said.

Tarr was flown to Long Beach Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in serious condition. Roberts was at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital in serious condition with possible internal and head injuries.

Tracy, who struck Tarr’s car head-on, was taken to the Fountain Valley hospital with a broken leg.

Murphy, the driver of one of the eastbound cars, complained of neck and back pains and was treated at Los Alamitos Medical Center and released. Her passenger, Maureen Murphy, 17, of Huntington Beach, was not injured.

Sever also was not injured.

All the vehicles sustained major damage.