2 Balboa Island crash victims still hospitalized

Paul Clinton

Two people remained hospitalized Tuesday following a Labor Day

accident in which an 87-year-old woman injured 13 pedestrians when

she ran her sedan into a crowd.

Police are still investigating the cause of the crash, which

occurred at 12:51 p.m. Monday when Newport Beach resident Mary Nash

accelerated and lost control of her Volvo sedan. But police now

believe that the car was functioning properly, said Newport Beach

Police Sgt. Steve Shulman.

“The accident was determined not to be mechanical,” Shulman said.

“It appears that it’s driver error.”

On Tuesday, Rancho Santa Margarita resident Kathleen Bingley, 44,

and a 14-year-old Las Vegas girl remained at Western Medical Center

in Santa Ana.

Gina Yenser, 31, also of Las Vegas, was released from the hospital

after she was treated for a fractured leg.

Other victims of the crash ranged in age from 18 months to 62

years old. Two Costa Mesa residents -- an 18-month-old boy and

40-year-old Kenneth Breland -- were not seriously hurt.

Seven other people were injured including Scott, 47, and Jackie

Andrews, 49 of Las Vegas; John Ramirez, 31, of Long Beach; Pat Rost,

62, of Las Vegas; Denise Allen, 34, of Las Vegas; John Yarter, 34 of

Tustin; Francis Gauthier, 39, of Quebec, Canada; and Marla Goldberg,

47, of Woodland Hills.

Activity around the Balboa Island Ferry returned to normal levels

on Tuesday.

Handfuls of walkers and joggers headed to one of Newport Beach’s

top tourist attractions, which reopened at about 3:30 p.m. Monday,

about 2 1/2 hours after the accident.

Seymour Beek, the president of Balboa Island Ferry Inc., said

repairs to the ferry’s dock would be made within the next few days.

“As soon as we reopened, there was a huge surge of humanity that

wanted to ride the ferry,” Beek said. “Not very much happened to us.”

The ferry’s dock and left side pedestrian bridge were both

damaged. Several railings were knocked off; the railing on the

auto-ramp was also damaged.

One of the two pedestrian ramps remained closed on Tuesday, as

ferry operators made plans to repair the moderate damage to the dock

and railings.

Nash, who lives in Newport Beach, was not injured in the crash.

Nash could still be subject to a citation, Shulman said. Police have

requested that the Department of Motor Vehicles require Nash take the

driving test again.

* PAUL CLINTON covers the environment and politics. He may be

reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at [email protected].