The crash was the second fatal incident involving a vehicle leaving the elevated shopping center parking area since May 2025.
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. — An 80-year-old woman died after her car crossed an elevated shopping center parking lot, broke through a wooden fence and plunged down a steep embankment, authorities said.
Orange County coroner’s officials identified the driver as Christine Larek of Laguna Beach. She was alone in the vehicle during the July 10 crash and later died from her injuries at a hospital. Laguna Beach police initially reported that the driver was 79, but county officials later listed her age as 80.
Police and firefighters were called at 7:09 p.m. to the 34800 block of South Coast Highway. Officers found the vehicle overturned below the parking area at the Aliso Creek Plaza shopping center. The elevated section of the lot sits more than 20 feet above the sidewalk and roadway area.
A preliminary police investigation found that Larek’s vehicle traveled over a curb, crossed a sidewalk and passed through a landscaped section of the parking lot. The car then struck a wooden fence and continued over the rocky embankment before landing upside down below.
Emergency crews took Larek to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Authorities did not report injuries to pedestrians or other motorists, and no other occupants were found inside the vehicle.
Police have not determined why the car left the parking lot. Officials have released no finding showing that alcohol, drugs, a medical emergency or a mechanical failure caused the crash. The investigation remained active, and authorities asked witnesses who had not spoken with officers to contact Laguna Beach police.
The collision occurred near the site of another fatal crash on May 26, 2025. In that incident, a vehicle driven by a 15-year-old permit holder went through a fence and down the same steep hillside while she was practicing driving with her father, according to published reports.
The passenger in the earlier crash, 64-year-old Laguna Beach resident James Politoski, died at the scene. His daughter was hospitalized with serious injuries and survived. Authorities have not said the two crashes shared a mechanical cause or that a single condition at the property was responsible for both incidents.
The latest crash renewed concern about the barrier at the edge of the elevated parking area. Local resident Joanne McMahon told KTLA that the damaged wooden fence should be replaced and called for city involvement. No confirmed plan to install a stronger barrier had been announced by the city or property owner as of Friday.
Laguna Beach police continued to investigate the circumstances of Larek’s death. No additional findings about the cause of the crash had been released.
Author note: Last updated July 17, 2026.