MOORPARK : Woman Arrested in 3-Vehicle Crash

Simi Valley woman police said was under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving Tuesday after her car veered into oncoming traffic on California 118 in Moorpark and collided with two other vehicles.

Evelyn Loftus, 47, was headed west on California 118 at Nogales Street about 7:55 a.m. when she crossed into the eastbound lane, hit a semi-truck head-on and then bounced into a car being driven by Edna Ingram, 60, of Port Hueneme, said Sgt. Harold Humphries of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

Loftus and Ingram were taken to Simi Valley Hospital. The truck driver, Paul Perez, 22, of Oxnard, was not injured.

After being treated for minor cuts and bruises and released from the hospital, Loftus was arrested and was being held at Ventura County Jail on $5,000 bail. Alcohol tests conducted at the hospital revealed that she was legally drunk, Humphries said, and Loftus told deputies she had taken some of the prescription drugs she had with her at the time of the crash.

Ingram, who suffered multiple contusions and a right lower-leg fracture, was scheduled to be transferred to the Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Woodland Hills.

The crash closed the highway’s eastbound lanes for about an hour and caused severe delays for drivers trying to get to Moorpark College or to the San Fernando Valley, said Lt. Geoff Dean of the Sheriff’s Department. Westbound lanes were closed intermittently while debris from the accident was removed, Dean said.