Police Search for Car Wash Worker

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT BEACH -- Police are searching for a Costa Mesa man who,

while working at a Newport Beach car wash Saturday, allegedly struck two

customers with a car, pinning one against a wall.

Silvestre Lopez Hernandez, 24, was moving a 1994 Mercedes-Benz when he

lost control of the car, which struck a 1996 Toyota pickup and then

plowed into two customers, police said.

Police said the vehicle hit Tom Casulas, 51, of Huntington Beach and

then Sharon Marshall, 47, of Santa Ana, who was pinned against the

building.

Police said Hernandez fled on foot from the Car Spa on West Coast

Highway following the incident just after 4 p.m. Saturday.

Marshall suffered multiple factures in her legs, but Casulas escaped

with only cuts and bruises. Both were taken to Western Medical Center in

Santa Ana, said Sgt. Ron Rodgers of the Newport Beach Police Department.

Hernandez faces felony hit-and-run charges, which could mean a minimum

of one year in county jail or state prison, Rodgers said.