COSTA MESA City waives conditions to allow...

COSTA MESA

City waives conditions to allow Dyke March

Early in the week, city leaders softened their hard-line stance

toward organizers of the Orange County Dyke March, which took place

Saturday.

City staffers struck a compromise deal with march organizers,

which they announced Monday, that waived many of the 21 restrictions

initially imposed.

The City Council, earlier this month, imposed restrictions on the

uses of the motorcycles, as well as a requirement that riders submit

copies of their driver’s licenses. Twelve restrictions remained in

place.

However, the Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange

County, which is organizing the event, said they would persist with a

lawsuit challenging the restrictions. The American Civil Liberties

Union filed the suit the week before.

About 250 riders were expected to participate in the Saturday

event.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].

BUSINESS

Chimayo Grill out; French food in

It sounds odd for a city with so many highly rated eateries, but

Newport Beach can only count two notable locations for quality French

food.

A Laguna Beach restaurateur has announced he would replace his

Chimayo Grill in Newport Center with Parisian cafe Rouge. It would

join the ultra-high-ticket Aubergine, on Balboa Peninsula, and the

Provence-styled Pascal.

Rouge, set to open in April, will be a more affordable bistro than

David Wilhelm’s Chat Noir or French 75, but will offer high-quality

dining. Chimayo will close at the end of this year.

* PAUL CLINTON covers the environment, business and politics. He

may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

[email protected].

PUBLIC SAFETY

Investigators search for answers in infant death

An investigation has begun into why a 10-month-old died after he

was left in a car for several hours at UC Irvine.

The infant was found dead on Aug. 8 in a car in the UCI parking

lot in the 400 block of Berkeley Court. All the windows were closed

and the outdoor temperature neared 80 degrees.

No arrest has been made, but Irvine police and campus police have

questioned the boy’s father, who works at the university.

Also, an empty gas tank ended a police chase that began in Costa

Mesa and continued into Newport and Huntington beaches before ending

on the Balboa Peninsula.

Costa Mesa Police officers were just about to call off their

30-minute pursuit to avoid the dangers of a high-speed chase when the

stolen van came to a stop at the corner of 42nd Street and Seashore

Drive, officials said.

“Most of the chase was pretty well controlled, but when he got

down on the peninsula, of course, there was concern because of the

congestion,” Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Burt Santee said.

Costa Mesa resident Felipe Arris, 39, was eventually arrested on

suspicion of felony evading arrest, auto theft, possession of a

controlled substance (cocaine), drunken driving and driving on a

suspended license, Santee said.

“There were probably a few misdemeanor charges thrown in there,

too, but those are the big ones,” he said.

Arris was allegedly riding his bike along Harbor Boulevard when he

saw a silver Chevy Astro van in an auto lot in the 2400 block with

keys left in the ignition, Santee said. The man ditched his bicycle,

jumped in the car and drove off, he said. Owners of the lot reported

the stolen van at 4:10 p.m.

That wasn’t the only chase that kept Costa Mesa Police busy.

A 36-year-old Costa Mesa man died early Sunday morning after

leading police on a 10-mile chase that ended tragically on the San

Diego Freeway, where his car lost control and skidded off the

MacArthur Boulevard offramp and into a tree, officials said.

Ayurelio Leyva died early Sunday at Western Medical Center in

Santa Ana as a result of a fractured skull and severe injuries,

county coroner’s officials said Monday.

A Costa Mesa Police officer was on routine patrol at Valencia

Avenue and Mendoza Street when he saw Leyva’s car driving without

headlights and running numerous stop signs, Costa Mesa Police Lt.

Dale Birney said.

Leyva refused to pull over and instead accelerated, beginning the

10-mile chase through the streets of northern Costa Mesa and onto the

Bristol Street onramp of the San Diego Freeway, Birney said. Police

continued the chase to MacArthur, where Leyva tried to exit, but lost

control and ran off the road.