BREA : Woman Dies in Crash; Friend Charged With Felony Drunk Driving

A 47-year-old Yorba Linda woman died Friday morning after a car in which she was riding Thursday night went through a red light and was struck by a another car, hurling her into theroad where she was run over, Brea police said.

Regina Wolfe, mother of two children and a part-time secretary, was pronounced dead about 10 a.m. Friday at Placentia Linda Community Hospital in Placentia.

Barbara June Thomas, 46, of Yorba Linda, the driver of the Mercedes in which Wolfe was a passenger, was charged with felony drunk driving and released after posting a $10,000 bond, said Brea Police Sgt. Bill Hutchinson. He said after further investigation police would decide whether to seek a charge of manslaughter.

Hutchinson said he did not know at what speed Thomas was driving or whether Wolfe was wearing a seat belt.

Wolfe’s 18-year-old son, Jason, said his mother worked part time for Thomas at a telephone company in Yorba Linda. Before the accident, police said, Thomas, Wolfe and another passenger, Kathleen Bristle Allison, 48, of Littleton, Colo., had been at Hof’s Bar & Grill at 1639 East Imperial Highway in Brea.

Hutchinson said that shortly before 11 p.m. the Mercedes, which was traveling east on Imperial Highway, ran a red light at the Valencia Avenue intersection, about 1 1/2 miles from the restaurant. A Plymouth Laser traveling north on Valencia Avenue hit the rear of the Mercedes, which spun and ejected Wolfe, then ran over her, Hutchinson said.

Thomas and the driver of the Plymouth and his two passengers were not injured, police said. Allison was taken to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Anaheim for observation and released.

Wolfe’s mother, Alta Fe Brink, said she came from Texas to attend Jason’s graduation ceremony next week at Esperanza High School in Anaheim, an event that she said her daughter had been looking forward to.