The deadly crash occurred at the same shopping center embankment where another vehicle went over the edge in May 2025.
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. — An 80-year-old woman died after her car crossed a parking lot, broke through a fence and plunged more than 20 feet onto a sidewalk below, marking the second fatal crash at the Laguna Beach location in about 14 months.
Orange County coroner’s officials identified the driver as Christine Larek of Laguna Beach. Police initially described her as 79 years old, but the coroner later listed her age as 80. Larek was the vehicle’s only occupant and died at Mission Hospital after the July 10 crash, authorities said.
Laguna Beach police officers and firefighters responded at about 7:09 p.m. to the 34800 block of South Coast Highway. The crash occurred at the Aliso Creek Plaza Shopping Center, where an elevated parking area sits above the highway and a sidewalk.
A preliminary investigation found that Larek’s vehicle traveled over a curb before crossing a sidewalk and a landscaped area, police said. It then struck a wooden fence and continued over an embankment estimated at 20 to 25 feet high.
The car overturned during the fall and landed on its roof on the sidewalk below. Emergency crews took Larek to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, where she died from her injuries. Authorities did not report injuries to anyone outside the vehicle.
Police had not determined why the car left the parking lot as of July 14. Investigators were examining whether a medical emergency, alcohol, drugs or another factor played a role, but officials had not linked the crash to any of those possibilities.
The collision drew renewed attention to the edge of the shopping center because another fatal crash occurred there on May 26, 2025. In that case, a vehicle driven by a 15-year-old permit holder went through a fence and down the embankment while she was practicing driving with her father.
The passenger, 64-year-old Laguna Beach resident James Politoski, died at the scene of the 2025 crash. His daughter suffered serious injuries and was taken to a hospital. Police said at the time that the vehicle had traveled from an upper parking lot before coming to rest near Coast Highway.
The two incidents involved vehicles crossing the edge of a parking area and going down the steep hillside at or near the same shopping center. Authorities have not said the crashes had a common mechanical cause or that conditions at the site were solely responsible for either collision.
After the latest death, some residents called for a stronger barrier along the edge of the lot. Video and photographs from the scene showed yellow caution tape around a damaged wooden fence. No confirmed plan for replacing or strengthening the barrier had been announced by city officials or the property owner.
The Laguna Beach Police Department’s investigation remained active. Police asked anyone who witnessed the July 10 collision and had not spoken with investigators to contact Motor Cpl. Andrew Lopez. Officials had not announced additional findings about the cause of the crash by July 14.
Author note: Last updated July 14, 2026.