BREA : Woman Arrested in Hit and Run, Chase

A woman suspected of running her car into a Caltrans worker Friday led Brea police on an 80-mile chase that ended when her car ran out of gas past Palm Springs, officers said.

Bonnie Edith Haynes, 37, of Orange was arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run driving, evading a police officer and drunk driving.

Haynes allegedly struck Michael Curtis Ziegler, a California Department of Transportation worker who was directing traffic at Castlegate Lane and Imperial Highway in Brea.

She drove off without stopping at the accident scene, according to Brea police.

Ziegler suffered severe head injuries and broken ribs after being struck about 12:40 a.m. He was reported to be in serious condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange.

After a description of the hit-and-run car was broadcast over the police radio, an officer tried to get Haynes to pull over near Imperial Highway and Kellogg Drive, said Police Sgt. Dave Carlock.

Instead, she drove toward Riverside County in a protracted chase in which police cars were directed by helicopters from the Anaheim Police Department and San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, officials said.

The chase ended when Haynes’ car ran out of gas on the San Bernadino Freeway, a mile east of Date Palm Drive near Palm Springs.

She was treated for minor injuries that police said resulted from the earlier accident, and then was taken to the Brea jail.

While police were directing traffic and investigating the accident, another suspected drunk driver crashed into a parked car and police motorcycle. A police officer was slightly injured.

The driver was treated for minor injuries at St. Jude Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in Fullerton and released pending a court appearance for suspicion of drunk driving, Carlock said.