Costa Mesa woman in critical condition after accident

Deepa Bharath

COSTA MESA -- A 32-year-old Costa Mesa woman was in critical condition

late Wednesday after she was hit by a car while crossing Hamilton Street

at Harbor Boulevard, officials said.

Marina Guiterrez Leon, who works at El Chinaco Mexican restaurant on

Harbor Boulevard, was walking to meet a friend who had parked his car at

the restaurant around 1 p.m., said Costa Mesa Police Traffic Investigator

Floyd Waldron.

He said 21-year-old Annel Madrigal of Santa Ana, who was driving a

burgundy Honda Civic, did not see Leon crossing because there were

vehicles parked on either side of the road.

Madrigal was headed south on Harbor and hit Leon when she made a right

turn onto Hamilton, Waldron said.

Leon was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where she is

under observation in the intensive care unit, Waldron added.

“It’s too early to tell,” he said of her condition. “They’ve got her

vital signs, but doctors are concerned about the swelling [on her head].

It’s hard to tell with a head injury.”

Leon’s aunt, Carmen Pinada, who was working at the window at El Taco

on Harbor, said Leon has lived with her boyfriend on Hamilton Street for

three years.

“Marina is a very nice, very friendly girl,” Pinada said, who spoke

Spanish and was translated by Leon’s friend, Tina Rivas. “She never got

into any trouble. Just went to work, came back home and minded her own

business.”

Rivas said she was walking down Harbor and turning on Hamilton Street

when she saw Leon hit and thrown to the curb.

“I saw her land,” she said. “It was horrible. I hope she’s OK.”